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Old Sanibel Drawbridge Piers to be Demolished, Boat Access Restricted
Oct 24, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kris Cella, Cella Molnar & Associates, Inc. Old Sanibel Drawbridge Piers to be Demolished October 30, 2007 Boat Access Restricted Fort Myers, FL, October 24, 2007 – The Punta Rassa boat ramp will be closed from 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Oct 30, 2007 for demolition of the Sanibel drawbridge piers. Boats will be required to stay 2500 feet away from the Sanibel bridge (Span A) during this time. Buoys will mark the safety zone on both sides of the bridge and this zone will be heavily patrolled by waterborne law enforcement personnel. Automobile traffic will not be permitted to travel across the bridge for approximately 20 minutes during the actual detonation of the explosives which is scheduled for 10 a.m. In addition, vehicular access to Punta Rassa will also be restricted during this time. The new fixed span bridge will be closed to ALL boat traffic from 9 a.m. on October 30th until late Friday, November 2nd to clear the debris. The navigation channel will reopen late Friday afternoon. During the following week, November 5th through the 9th, there will be restricted navigation in the Span A channel from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. as crews finish cleanup work. The drawbridge piers are being demolished with explosives and mandated safety measures will be in place. Wire and rubber mats will entirely blanket the two large drawbridge piers to contain the concrete rubble. The two closest piers on the new bridge will also be wrapped with wire and rubber mats for protection. Vibration monitors will be placed on the new fixed span bridge to monitor the explosion. The new bridge will also be visually inspected after the explosion. Marine wildlife monitors will be looking for manatees, dolphins, sea turtles, etc. within the 2500-foot safety zone before detonation of the explosives. If any marine mammals are seen within the safety zone, the detonation will be halted until the mammals move out of the safety zone. A "bubble curtain" will also be used to attenuate the shock wave and muffle the noise. The underwater noise generated by the bubble curtain also helps "scare" the fish away. This is a very contained demolition operation, the explosion will occur within seconds and 98% of the demolition will take place underwater. Therefore there will not be any "exciting" visual display and the public is urged not to impede the efforts by parking on the Causeway islands or out along the safety zone. For more information and project updates please see the project website at www.sanibelcauseway.com, contact Kris Cella, Cella Molnar & Associates, Inc., 1631 Hendry Street, Fort Myers, FL 33901, call 239-337-1071, 1-877-496-1076 (toll-free) or email kcella@cella.cc
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