Concrete transfer last step before Riberia repairs

St. Augustine Chief Operations Officer, John Regan, reported to local Historic City News reporters that the current concrete transfer is the last major trucking project along Riberia Street before major improvements begin in October.

In a deal negotiated by Regan, Skanska, the Florida Department of Transportation, St. Augustine Port Authority and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the City agreed to aquire tons of concrete from the dismantled temporary Bridge of Lions.

Under the multilateral agreement with the bridge contractor, the extracted concrete is being used to satisfy construction requirements to fabricate a state-mandated “armament” around a former landfill at the south end of Riberia Street.

Had the City been forced to buy and deliver stone for that purpose, Regan estimates the cost would have been about $600,000. Under the agreement, the City gets necessary riprap to protect the marsh area at the south end of Riberia Street for about $100,000.

The Florida Department of Transportation reported that the option to transport the debris to Riberia Street saved a considerable expense of more distant hauling as well as landfill costs.

The projected costs were as high as one million dollars and neither project could have progressed as quickly had the accord not been reached. At this point, the Phase One work on Riberia Street can begin in October and will extend from King Street to the area of Bridge Street.