By George Andreassi
staff writer
September 30, 2004

HUTCHINSON ISLAND — Local contractors have been hired to rebuild a 2,000-foot stretch of MacArthur Boulevard washed out by huge waves during Hurricane Jeanne, Martin County officials said Wednesday.

It is expected to cost as much as $4.5 million and take two months to rebuild the road and beef up the foundation to prevent future washouts, County Administrator Russ Blackburn said.

A temporary road will first be built to give emergency vehicles and construction equipment access to Sailfish Point and the houses near Bathtub Beach, which have been cut off from the mainland since Sunday, county officials said.

Those homeowners have been using boats and kayaks to travel to Hutchinson Island to assess the damage. Martin County started providing ferry service from Sandsprit Park on Wednesday morning.

The county has contracted with GCY Surveyors, the LBFH engineering firm and the Dickerson Florida paving company to design and build the new road, Blackburn said.

"The team has already started formulating plans for restoring that roadway to its normal capacity," Blackburn said. "We expect to be announcing a schedule for bringing that road back to normal very soon."

"Because it's an area that has been subject to washout in the past, it's going to have to be stabilized and armored," Blackburn said. "Typically we use piling as well as rock on both sides to ensure that you don't have a washout."

- george.andreassi@scripps.com

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