A piling or two may be needed to repair the gangway for people to access the floating dock at the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.
Structural engineer Glenn Warburton of Bradenton-based Delta Engineering wrote in an Oct. 11 report that the gangway — the walkway connecting the dock to the pier — is pulling from the pier and at risk of collapse.
Warburton recommended supporting the gangway using timber pilings and beams like those used for the pier’s understructure.
The report included a letter proposing Delta engineer a design for the repair.
So the city hired Delta for an estimated $2,000 to design the repair, according to Bradenton Beach public works director Tom Woodard. He did not have a time frame for completion, but three contractors are ready to bid on the installation after it is designed.
The dock will remain closed until the gangway is repaired.
“I was hoping to have it fixed by last weekend, that was my preference,” John Horne, owner of Anna Maria Oyster Bar, said in an Oct. 17 phone interview with The Islander. “But, you know, it is a city project so it takes forever to go out to bid and so forth.”
Horne said he understands the need for fixing the issue, but he hopes it can be done quickly.
“Get a local guy,” Horne said. “Whoever can come out and do it the fastest needs to be done. It’s just ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous.”
“But anyway, I know that the city is trying to bust their hump to get it done as rapidly as possible, but we just got people used to coming to Bridge Street again by boat, and now they can’t,” he added.
City officials opened the dock Aug. 2, after two-and-a-half years of turbulence due to failures by the company originally contracted to build and install the dock. The dock replaced one damaged by storms and removed in 2017.
The gangway was part of the installation of the original dock in 2015, but the city’s contract with Gibsonton-based Hecker Marine Construction to install the $191,524 dock did not include the gangway, so the contractor is not being held responsible for repairs.
“It’s so frustrating that this wasn’t done during the process (of installing the dock),” Horne said. “We’ve had plenty of time and plenty of engineers, contractors, and talent that should have seen this before it happened.”