VIRGINIA BEACH
Crews are scheduled to complete repairs to a fender beneath the Lesner Bridge today, and officials insist the rumors that one of the bridge's concrete pilings sustained damage are untrue.
A contractor's barge struck the wooden fender around the bridge piling May 30, said Phillip Koetter, operations management administrator for Virginia Beach public works.
"The bridge structure itself sustained no damage," he said. "The fender system... protected the bridge pilings from the collision."
The crash damaged the fender's wood pilings and timbers, leaving some cracked and protruding into the channel, Koetter said.
A structural engineer determined that no damage had been done to the bridge.
Members of the Army Corps of Engineers found the channel was clear, and the Coast Guard issued a notice to boaters to use caution when passing under the bridge, he said.
Repair work began June 17. The barge's contractor will pay the estimated $130,000 spent to repair the fender wing, Koetter said.
Opponents of a city proposal to locate a dredge transfer station at the nearby Lynnhaven Boat Ramp have argued that the operation could lead to more barges in the area and a greater risk of crashes into the bridge.
Dan Adams, public works project manager, said Tuesday that city officials began looking at other possible sites for the transfer station before the accident.
Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com
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A good way to ruin the Lesner Bridge
I can't even imagine barges going through that passage on a regular basis. It definitely sounds like a receipe for disaster. There has to be a better way to handle the dredge spoils.
Won't be the last time
Residents, boaters, boat captains, fishermen and everybody else who knows how stupid it is to have barges navigating around this bridge with the currents are not surprised to read this in the least. The city's plan is to have 60 barge trips a day navigating around that bridge with barges loaded with dredge spoils and use the Lynnhaven Boat ramp as their offload site. The Lynnhaven is a big area and almost all of the dredging needing done is miles from the bridge. Where is the common sense in considering the inlet as a barge traffic area?
First and foremost, every city council memeber and every engineer who has dreamed this ridiculous project up needs to get in a boat in the middle of the inlet and shut the engine down for 2 minutes and see how fast things can change. The idea of using this area for dredge spoils trafficking is as much irresponsible as it is ridiculously dangerous. These barges need t