The Fortune Taylor Bridge is a 1926 historic steel structure single-span bascule bridge that is an important crossing over navigable waters of the Hillsborough River in Downtown Tampa. The bridge is built with structural steel members to support traffic loads. Due to the age and corrosion the structural steel members have reduced cross-section and strength.
This rehabilitation, which will extend the bridge’s useful life by 10 – 15 years, consists of the following:
- Cleaning, repair or replacement of corroded steel structural members;
- Painting of the steel structure (which is essential for corrosion control);
- Concrete restoration;
- Handrail repairs;
- Tender house repairs, necessary to protect the bridge’s programmable logic controller (PLC).
Construction was postponed in 2010 due to the RNC, and in 2012, due to emergency repairs required by FDOT that included some structural repairs, crack repairs, and replacement of the PLC which were subsequently completed by Oct 2013.