Bear Creek Channel Improvements

Bear creek was a 20 to 30 foot wide meandering creek located in South Pasadena in Pinellas County, Florida. The creek is a tidal waterbody which empties into a lagoon area which then flows into the intercostal waterway. Years of heavy growth and sediment was causing a large sediment buildup in the lagoon causing water quality problems. This project for DNCC involved 2,000 linear feet of channel widening (30 foot bottom width) and dredging approximately 6,000 CY of contaminated sediment by barge from the lagoon as well as 21,000 CY of machine excavation from the creek so as to realign, widen, and deepening the creek to 30 foot wide. With the new creek alignment, approximately 9,750 tons of rip rap rubble bank and shore was installed along the new bank slopes and 1,645 LF of new steel sheeting seawall was installed. A sea walled concrete sump approximately 45 feet by 210 feet was constructed with weirs so as to trap future sediment for annual removal.

Controlling the water flow in the creek was the biggest issue as the work had to be completed in the dry. DNCC installed two 24” hydraulic pumps with twin 18” HDPE outfall pipes so as to bypass the creek’s water to a discharge point approximately 2,000 feet down stream in the lagoon. Temporary sheeting was also installed at the downstream end to prevent high tides from flowing into the work areas. During major rain fall events the creek would overflow resulting in about a week of lost time for recovery and clean up. Part way through the project it was discovered that a design error by the EOR had occurred in the permanent steel sheeting. This made it necessary to remove previously installed sheeting and reinstall longer sheets and about a one year delay in the project.

This project also included the construction of a new 3 span bridge with 24” precast concrete piling, and a poured in place deck, and roadway reconstruction with new storm drainage, water and sewer.

Project Details

Project: Bear Creek Channel Improvements

Location: Pinellas County, Florida

Owner / Client: Pinellas County

Construction Area: 5.5 Acres

Contract Value: $8,301,000

Date Completed: July 2014