Contractors locked in another piece of the puzzle for the floating dock at the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.
Fort Myers-based Golden Marine Systems, the contractor that supplied railings and ladders for the dock, modified the railings Dec. 12, according to public works director Tom Woodard.
Commissioner Ralph Cole, who serves as chair of the city’s community redevelopment agency and liaison on the dock project, has said Golden’s railings failed to meet specifications previously discussed.
Golden provided the city with three sections of railing for the dock, but the railings did not connect as specified at the dock’s corners, according to Woodard.
The railings also do not utilize the dock’s track system, which Technomarine Construction — the dock’s original designer and manufacturer — planned for attachments on the dock.
Cole told The Islander in a Dec. 11 phone call that Golden modified the railings to create corner connections. He declined to detail further modifications.
The dock allows boaters to tie up and access the pier, 200 Bridge St., which houses the Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurant and Paradise Boat Tours, which launches boat tours from the dock.
The railings and ladders are meant to provide safety measures for the public dock.
Now, the pier needs one last modification: the replacement of 18 rollers — the mechanisms connecting the dock to support pilings while allowing tidal movement.
The CRA hired Duncan Seawall for the recent gangway repair and to replace the rollers, which CRA members agreed to furnish through Golden if they are satisfied with the contractor’s modifications to the railings.
City officials first opened the dock Aug. 2, after two-and-a-half years of turbulence due to failures by Technomarine. The dock, which cost $191,524 before additions, replaced one damaged by storms and removed in 2017.