A daylong lane closure will allow Manatee County to secure a water main across the Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue.
County information outreach manager Bill Logan announced in an Oct. 26 news release that work to install supports along the new pipeline would resume Nov. 1.
Bradenton-based Woodruff & Sons installed the pipeline across the bridge over the summer to replace the previous 16-inch water main, which collapsed into Anna Maria Sound in June due to failing hangers on the east end.
The new water main was supposed to be reinforced with the addition of about 90 pipeline support hangers along the eastern half of the bridge, where the pipe hangs along the undercarriage.
However, that work was postponed for months due to delays in acquiring the required support hangers.
The work Nov. 1 will require periodic lane closures and periods of one-way traffic across the bridge 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
“The contractor is working primarily from the water rather than the road base to alleviate some motorist impacts but this single-day lane shutdown is necessary to complete this part of the operation,” the release stated.
Motorists who want to avoid the work zone should consider travel to and from Anna Maria Island via the Cortez Bridge that day.
Logan added that the work can’t be completed at night due to safety concerns.
The western half of the new pipeline is positioned along the bridge’s south sidewalk, where it will remain for about two years before a subaqueous pipeline is installed to replace the water main.
The bridge’s south sidewalk will remain closed until the water line replacement is completed.