Philippe Park located in East Pinellas County is located just north of the City of Safety Harbor. Separating the two is a tidally influenced creek that hydrates a beautiful mangrove wetland. The existing bridge was only 5-feet wide and did not meet ADA standards for pedestrian use. Because the bridge was made of wood, its time of repair had come.

Pinellas County, the City of Safety Harbor and DRMP partnered in the planning, permitting and design of the bridge replacement. Denson Construction secured a two-piece steel bridge that would be constructed from both sides of the environmentally sensitive banks. The new bridge is 110-feet long and is 12-feet wide. Civil engineering design reconstructed both bridge approaches to meet current ADA standards. Regulatory agencies for permitting and coordination included the EPC, ACOE and SWFWMD. Mangroves were only site pruned by an Arborist and the wood bridge timber supports were removed to the mud line.

Project challenges included high voltage transmission lines overhead in the footprint of the bridge.

The bridge was designed to be two pieces, allowing construction to occur from both sides at once using low profile crane equipment. Duke Energy, the owners of the transmission equipment, started a project to replace their towers at the same time as the bridge replacement. The two construction crews were not able to avoid each other but they were able to partner on heavy construction coordination on opposite banks during the bridge lowering.