Beach Repairs

Post date: Feb 4, 2013 9:31:15 PM

Update on the 3 neighborhood beach access stairways:

1. Vista park stairs are on the city's priority list for repair. This should be done within the week.

2. The stairs that were swept away with the wall in Loggerhead Park should be in place within 3 to 4 weeks. The order to have them fabricated has been placed by Mark Ulman.

3. The staircase that we lost just north of the park, in the public access may take longer. The 6 ft. Stairs have been changed in design to a 15 ft. Staircase due to beach erosion. Additional approval is necessary. Mark said the process has begun. He will keep us posted.

The seawall and beach access at 27th Street is currently being repaired by the City, and should be completed by the end of February. Below is a detailed update on the other repair project on A1A.

A1A Restoration Update from FDOT

A1A remains open to one travel lane and one bike lane in each direction during the $8.3 million project to repair the section between NE 14th Court and NE 18th Street, north of Sunrise Boulevard, in Fort Lauderdale. This area was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in October and the Thanksgiving weekend storms in November. The sidewalk and parallel parking on the west side of A1A also remain open in this area.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), our contractor, Johnson Bros. Construction, and sub-contractors appreciate the cooperation of beach-goers, pedestrians and bicyclists for observing the posted warning signs and refraining from entering the construction zone. Use of the sidewalk on the west side of A1A and beach access points to the north and south of the construction zone may be less convenient, but your safety is of utmost importance.

Drilling along the eastern edge of the pavement is expected to continue through mid-February. The drills are breaking up rock more than 25 feet below the surface in preparation for installation of sheet piling that will replace the damaged beach side wall and stabilize the road. We continue to monitor the vibration created by the drilling.

The mast arm traffic signal on the east side of A1A at NE 14th Court will be temporarily removed to clear a path for the pile driving equipment.

FDOT has received a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to work on the beach side of the damaged area. The contractor has started removing some of the barrier wall segments that FDOT placed on the sand to prevent further erosion.

The full moon high tides of this past week brought the waves very closed to the work zone. For that reason some of the wall segments will be left in place until the sheet pile is being installed.

The contractors are authorized to work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The sheet pile has been ordered and is being manufactured. The pile material and equipment needed for its installation are expected to begin arriving on site February 11. The contractor anticipates beginning installation the following week, starting on the south end of the project and proceeding north. The sheet pile installation will last approximately 30 days.

After the sheet pile is installed we will bring in fill, on the west side of the wall, to build up the areas that eroded. The entire road surface, between the new wall on the east side and the curb on the west side of A1A, will be repaved.

When the restoration work is completed, the roadway will be restriped to include a southbound bike lane, one southbound travel lane, a center left-turn lane for northbound traffic, one northbound travel lane and a northbound bike lane. The sidewalk and parallel parking will remain on the west side of A1A. The traffic signal will be reinstalled on the east side of A1A at NE 14th Court. The temporary, orange/white barrier wall will be removed and replaced by a short temporary curb. The remaining 15-20 feet of the east side of the road, between the temporary curb and the new wall, will be re-opened to beach-goers and pedestrians.

We expect this project to be completed in April.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience during these repairs. Should you have questions or concerns about this work, please feel free to contact our Construction Public Information Officer Ms. Miranda Iglesias at 954-940-7585 or FDOT's Public Information Office at954-777-4090.

If you know someone that would like to receive these email updates, please send their address to Barbara.Kelleher@dot.state.fl.us with a subject line of A1A Updates. Also, you can follow us on Twitter @MyFDOT_SEFL.

Regards,

Barbara Kelleher

Public Information Director

Florida Department of Transportation District Four

3400 West Commercial Boulevard

Fort Lauderdale FL 33309

E-mail: Barbara.Kelleher@dot.state.fl.us

954-777-4090 or Toll-Free at 1-866-336-8435 ext. 4090

www.dot.state.fl.us