Clearwater Pass Seawall Repair

The City of Clearwater retained BillerReinhart to investigate active soil erosion along the south seawall of Clearwater Pass Bridge, where, after a tropical storm, washout had progressed to the point of exposing the wall’s tie-back anchor rods. With the anchorage system compromised, the City needed to determine the extent of the undermining and assess whether the seawall’s stability had been affected.

BillerReinhart conducted a site investigation and condition survey to establish the cause of the erosion and document the condition of the affected structure—the exposed tie-back anchors, the concrete cap, the retained grade and sidewalk behind the wall, and the adjoining seawall segments. The survey isolated the source of the washout and produced the repair quantities used to develop the construction documents. BillerReinhart then prepared the restoration package: a project manual with technical specifications and repair drawings suitable for public bidding and construction. The repair design addressed the full extent of the wall and specified corrosion-inhibitor treatment of the concrete cap, crack routing and sealing, replacement of joint material and sealant, concrete repairs at the cap per ICRI specifications/guidelines, excavation of undermined areas to expose and re-coat the tie-back anchors, and backfill, regrading, and reconstruction of the undermined sidewalk sections.

The goal of this project was to restore the structural integrity of a compromised section of public waterfront infrastructure and extend the service life of the City’s existing seawall assets by addressing deterioration before it progressed to structural failure. For a shoreline the City is responsible for maintaining, the payoff is straightforward: the work stabilized a piece of public infrastructure before a maintenance issue became a concern, and it protected the City’s infrastructure.