The cost of Manatee County’s erosion-control groin project in Bradenton Beach just increased by $500,000.
Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said Oct. 19 that he had learned the latest delay on the project to rebuild three groins between Sixth and 13th streets south probably won’t be completed until January.
After waiting more than a month for concrete forms to arrive at the site at Cortez Beach, construction resumed the week of Oct. 17.
Shearon said repairs are being made to two sections of the center groin’s plates, which dropped 2 inches after being battered by waves and surf brought on by Hurricane Hermine, which passed through the Gulf of Mexico about 240 miles offshore of Anna Maria Island the week of Aug. 29.
The county project began in March 2015 and was projected to end that December. Delays began to plague the project, pushing the end date to January, then March, April, May, July, September and now to January 2017.
The project began with a maximum budget of $5 million. The latest delay is pushing it over the maximum by an estimated $400,000. The cost is now expected to be $5.4 million.
The three original groins, locally known, especially by surfers, as “Three Piers,” were constructed in the 1960s to help prevent beach erosion. Years of exposure to the elements and neglect left the groins in disrepair. The piers were budgeted for replacement by the county with the 2013-14 beach renourishment.
Shearon said he’s hopeful this delay will be the project’s last and Bradenton Beach will be able to move on.
The project limits access and parking at Cortez Beach, which lies between Bridge Street and Coquina Beach.
“It really concerns the residents and everyone else on our island community,” Shearon said of the project. “I’m trying to remain very positive about it.”