Critically damaged St. Pete seawall costs soar

A heavily traveled section of downtown St. Petersburg sidewalk and seawall nearly sank into the bay during Hurricane Milton. The area has remained a public safety hazard for nearly a month.

The city council approved a $3.48 million construction proposal to replace the waterfront infrastructure Thursday afternoon. However, the Vinoy Yacht Basin’s sidewalk and seawall will highlight Mother Nature’s force – and the astronomical cost of citywide improvements – for at least another 15 weeks.

Brejesh Prayman, engineering and capital improvements director, said the city would continue monitoring adjacent sections along 5^th Avenue NE that experienced “the same loading condition during the storm.” Councilmember Gina Driscoll questioned why administrators would wait to fix neighboring problematic seawalls.

“The funding is there,” said Driscoll, who represents the area. “The funding was granted years ago, but it’s not being used.”

The council also approved a $2.5 million and a $655,000 proposal to rebuild Bear Creek’s storm-damaged walls and Eden Isle Culvert, respectively. Those projects are in residential neighborhoods.

Driscoll noted the downtown sidewalk receives a steady stream of foot, bicycle and baby stroller traffic from residents and visitors. Officials often refer to the waterfront as St. Petersburg’s front porch, and she said it has “multiple areas that need to be fixed.”

Driscoll said the storm damage has created safety issues as people walk into the street to avoid the area. The city installed a temporary traffic control sign directing pedestrians to an alternate route.

“People are not going through the detour we provided,” Prayman said. “Once this contract is executed, we can push the contractor to put fencing up.”

Rapidly escalating costs

St. Petersburg officials have long known that repetitive flooding and sea level rise have rendered miles of aging seawalls functionally obsolete. The city, a peninsula, boasts 244 miles of shoreline.

Tom Greene, assistant city administrator, said the city dedicated $31 million to infrastructure improvements around 5th Avenue. The money stems from Intown Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) coffers.

Officials launched the Citywide Seawall Inspection, Renovation and Replacement project in fiscal year 2021. Once complete in late 2025, it could potentially list over $1 billion in projects.

Prayman said Canada-based PCL Construction will replace 310 linear feet of seawall downtown for $3.48 million. That equates to $11,225 per square foot.

According to background documents, the company will remove debris and sediment from Bear Creek and stabilize 200 linear feet of canal walls. The city will pay $12,500 per foot.

PCL will remove and replace between 15 and 20 linear feet of seawall and reinforced concrete piping and restore the adjacent sidewalk around the Eden Isle Culvert. The $655,600 cost for 20 feet of work equates to $32,780 per foot.

Prayman said using sheet concrete is “substantially more expensive” than steel, which degrades over time. The repair materials have a 75-year service life.

Prayman explained that city seawalls, unlike those around residences, must accommodate heavy vehicle traffic and are more expensive to build. He said the city paid roughly $7,000 per square foot for new seawalls in 2016 before construction costs increased exponentially during and after the pandemic.

“Sea wall replacement is not a cheap process,” Prayman added. “We are seeing prices escalating drastically.”

Those prices include paying PCL’s project managers $250 an hour. Unskilled laborers will make $34 an hour throughout the 12-to-15-week projects.

Additional taxpayer costs include $15.62 an hour for a pickup truck and $150 monthly for PCL’s cell phones. Documents state that completing project contracts will take two weeks.

Officials committed $6.64 million to the three relatively small projects Thursday. With the lowest recent cost of $11,225 per square foot, the city would pay $1.185 billion to replace 20 miles of seawalls.

Prayman said the seawall study would provide citywide condition assessments. Administrators will then prioritize critical projects. “We will probably be bringing an amendment to the contract we already have for the 79^th Street (North) seawall project because we realized during the storm there was an additional failure.”

“So, with the limited funding we have right now, we’re really focusing on the sections that are critical,” Prayman added. “It may be a failure. It may be a public safety issue.

He agreed with Driscoll’s assertion that additional seawalls along 5^th Avenue need repairs. “That entire section, if I had it (funding), I would do it all right now,” Prayman said.

Driscoll agreed that “things keep getting more and more expensive.” She also reiterated that the city has money designated for area infrastructure improvements.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could also help fund storm-damaged seawall replacements. Greene said the projects are eligible for reimbursement.