The Project Wide Advisory Committee will consider a $1.2 million bid to use rip rap to stabilize the Morse Boulevard bridge at Lake Sumter.
PWAC members will meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday at SeaBreeze Recreation Center.
PWAC has wrestled for years with the sloughing issue at the islands which support the bridge. A large portion of the embankment slid off about eight years ago, likely due to an underwater sinkhole.
For several years, PWAC has discussed, debated, argued and changed course about what do about the problem at the embankments under the bridge. One of the options considered early in the discussion was rip rap, a range of rocky material placed along the shoreline to provide stabilization. At one point, PWAC considered importing lime rock from the Village of Fenney, which was under construction at the time. In 2019, PWAC took a fresh look at the project and agreed to spend $130,000 on a professional study looking at a Geoweb reinforced slope. However, that work required waiting for the water level to go down, something that simply hasn’t happened since Hurricane Irma in 2017.
In June, PWAC decided to go back to the rip rap solution and to seek bids for the project.
The successful bidder is Petrotech Southeast, Inc. at $1,202,358. The company provides construction support and environmental services for shoreline restoration projects.
The good news is that PWAC has socked away more than $1 million dollars for the work.
PWAC includes Community Development Districts 5 through 13.
