Engineer at Gasparilla Bridge today to detail repairs

Hurricane Milton has undermined the roadway of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, including the roadbed and outbuildings. An independent engineer will arrive at the bridge today to recommend both a quick fix and a permanent solution.

“This is a hard one,” said Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority Executive Director Kathy Banson by phone last night. “It’s going to take a long time to get things back.”

First, the good news: The actual bridge structures are sound; the Authority had each bridge inspected on Thursday. The issue now is that part of the road approach to one of the bridges has been undermined on Cole Island, near Boca Grande North, where only one lane remains open.

“All three bridges are solid. They are structurally sound,” said Banson. “It’s just the washout.”

Currently, the sheriff is turning around people who wish to go on the island. The Fire Department and Florida Power and Light have been allowed to cross.

“Right now, we can’t have vehicles driving across it,” said Banson. “This isn’t just ‘hey, we don’t want you over there.’”

After Hurricane Helene, bridge staff cleared the road of sand that had washed in from around the Boca Grande North condominiums. Today’s repairs will require outside help.

“Tomorrow morning (Friday), we have a roadway engineer coming to take a look and come up with a solution,” said Banson.

The engineer has two goals: First, how to immediately make the roadbed safe, and second, how to permanently repair it. Added to the concern is that heavy trucks will be going back and forth during the recovery, further stressing the roadbed.

“We need to figure out a short-term fix and a long-term fix,” said Banson.

The issues with the causeway are separate from the problems on the rest of the island, where sewer and water systems were destroyed in places, and roadbeds washed out. However, the causeway is also the corridor for the island’s water line, which pumps groundwater from under Rotonda to the island.

“The GIWA water line that was running along the causeway is just broken, and laying all over the causeway,” said Banson.

In a letter to the community last night, Boca Grande Fire Department Chief C.W. Blosser discussed the causeway’s condition.

“The causeway is severely undermined on Cole Island in front of Boca Grande North,” wrote Blosser. “It is so severe that the travel lane is reduced to a single lane. It was inspected by an engineer today, and tomorrow decisions on repairs will be made. In the same area, the water main that feeds the island is washed away and broken into pieces. There is no quick fix for this, and the island will be without water for 2-4 weeks. GIWA is actively assessing the rest of the system.”

Banson also said that the bridge has a small electrical building that has been knocked off its foundation, which contained sand and rock. Power cables and conduit are now exposed. Smaller, non-safety-related items also need attention, such as the toll booths, which were flooded. That damage is not critical but will need to be addressed.

“All we know is that the toll booths had a significant amount of water in them as well,” said Banson.

“This is devastating. We’ve never seen this kind of damage. This hit us worse than Ian.”

In September of 2022, Hurricane Ian’s eye made landfall at Cayo Costa, the island just south of Gasparilla Island, destroying Matlacha, a town on the causeway to Pine Island. Immediately after Ian, temporary repairs were made to the bridge approaches to Pine Island in Matlacha, allowing quicker access for repairs. A full repair was later completed by Florida DOT.

Banson said it’s possible the Bridge Authority will need help from Florida DOT once it receives guidance from its engineering firm on a solution. Cost is not an issue for the independent authority. Currently, the bridge has reserves of approximately $8.7 million, should it be needed for reconstruction.

They hope to have a timetable for an immediate solution after today.

“We need our engineer to give us a plan. We’ll reach out to them to expedite it. First, we need to find out what we need.”

Banson acknowledges that everyone is going to have ideas. She said this is the worst damage she’s ever seen.

“We will work as hard as we can and get it fixed as fast as we can,” said Banson.