Comments on: Pensacola Bay Bridge Probably Won’t Reopen In March; More Damage Found

By: Don

Don — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 14:06:48 +0000

Henry claiming they didn’t have time to move the barges is a lie. I’ve worked with places like Chevron in Pascgoula and any time there was a slight chance of a hurricane the plant started making plans a week in advance and shut down a week in advance regardless of if the spaghetti models showed the hurricane was on track to the area or not. You don’t wait a day before impact and then claim there is not enough time to put crews at rist. That’s called being “reactive” and not “proactive”. Reactive is negligence. Proactive is a sign of good leadership and shows they have a plan. Skansta didn’t have a plan. There are very few companies who actually have a plan in place for natural disaters such as a tornado. Ask and they don’t now. When a tornado comes nobody knows what to do. Been there many times. I know. This hurricane and securing the barges are no different. You didn’t have a plan. Any comment you make trying to make an excuse for it is just that … an excuse.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 19:55:48 +0000

Henry is a friend of mine and he has plenty of boating experience on the waters of Pensacola Bay both in good weather and bad. What he is saying makes sense. Especially about putting workers at risk to move 50 barges during an approaching storm. Weather conditions were hazardous long before the storm hit shore and the bay can be a dangerous place at night for any vessel. If one Skanska employee had lost his or her life, would it be worth it? I say not. The whole thing is very unfortunate and certainly Skanska is having to pay a high price for their decisions. Everybody keeps throwing out phrases like “Skanska should have had a contingency plan”. I just can’t think of what that would have been with so many barges and equipment out in the bay and no safe place to put them. I agree that the entire situation really stinks, but the real culprits name is Sally.

My main point is that Henry is a great guy and one of the smartest people I know. So I wouldn’t discount his opinion.

By: Al Thomason

Al Thomason — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 03:18:19 +0000

Being involved in the barge traffic as a tow boat captain anytime a storm is within striking distance..you take barges and secure up the river and/or a safe place.. negligence is abound in this situation.. if you have not been employed in the industry, then maybe you are not an expert in this matter.. just saying

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 21:35:34 +0000

For those wondering why the new “damage” wasn’t seen earlier, another news site explained why. It wasn’t visual until a safety weight/load test was performed on that area. It was only during the testing that the pier or support for that area was observed to suddenly slant to one side. So, I guess it is a great idea they do weight & load testing after finishing a section to see if it performs as expected & not wait until heavy traffic weight would end with the same result.

By: Sd

Sd — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 05:51:15 +0000

So how does a 75 year bridge collapse by barge? I have concerns that it’s only a 75 year bridge in fair weather

By: Horse stuff

Horse stuff — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 04:58:25 +0000

I worked as an offshore oil field tugboat skipper for over 12 years way back when. Needless to say, my vessel was involved with many precautionary barge moves that were initiated by a tropical system that was FORCASTED TO MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN GULF and said assets were within the THREE DAY CONE. Of course planning for those towing resources began before that, and this was with 80s and 90s forecasting accuracies. So , NO they were betting on it not hitting here, and that bet was lost.

By: Henry Coe

Henry Coe — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 23:05:24 +0000

Re: Aaron, No, I do not work for Skanska. I just follow hurricanes and tracking them is like a lifetime hobby. After the hurricane I went back and considered the timeline for the weather conditions as well as the warnings and thought about the logistics involved with trying to move 50 barges to Bayou Chico from the Bay Bridge over a 30 hour time frame in Tropical Storm and Hurricane conditions. Then I wondered, with short notice at 4pm the afternoon before the storm, how Skanska could get the right people in place to handle that task in the bay, in a hurricane, at night.

By: aaron

aaron — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 19:08:13 +0000

@ henry coe bruh do you work for skanska?? sounds like it. anyone who cant see their negligence is blind!

By: Citizen

Citizen — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 18:41:16 +0000

Shocking!!

….no, not at all.

By: CJ Lewis

CJ Lewis — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 16:47:32 +0000

“As FDOT contractors were conducting repairs to the Pensacola Bay Bridge, it was determined that additional repair work was needed for one of the bridge’s trophy pieces.” That sentence seems to suggest that the bridge was not properly inspected after being damaged and before repair work began. If that is what happened, that snafu seems a new news story all its own. Who inspected the bridge and why did they miss this? Once the bridge is open, or maybe before, the Board of County Commissioners needs to remove the Pensacola Beach bridge toll altogether. None of the toll money collected has anything to do with the bridge. I seem to recall that the BCC pledged the toll money to pay off another beach project. However, pledging a specific type of money does not prevent the BCC from using other types of money to pay off the project’s debt. There is plenty of money in the Escambia County budget for all sorts of “nice to have” things except for public safety that is historically underfunded because none of the incumbents ever pay a price for it at election time to include blaming the Sheriff for the county’s high crime rate knowing that most voters do not know that the BCC decides how much or how little money the Sheriff gets. On the bridge toll, Commissioner Barry once correctly pointed out that it is effectively a “tax” on Escambia County residents. I believe he said that 70% of the bridge toll (“tax”) is paid by Escambia County residents. Imagine how much faster the traffic would flow onto and off of the island without the tool booth. For those who never go that way, there is no bridge toll at the Navarre Beach end of Santa Rosa Island.