Sand Key Park Docks At Clearwater Pass To Be Closed, Demolished

CLEARWATER, FL — Due to deterioration and safety concerns, the two fishing docks located near the Clearwater Pass at Sand Key Park, 1060 Gulf Blvd., will be demolished beginning Aug. 1.

In 2021, a dock inspector with Coastal Dock Concepts completed an underwater inspection and determined that the docks had rotting framing, hardware and pilings.

According to the dock inspector, boring and shipworms, crustaceans that use their shells as a drill to burrow into wood pilings and framing, have become a major problem in Tampa Bay, costing millions of dollars of damage each year.

They have the ability to infest a piling in as short as five weeks and, once the worms have made their way into the piling, they continue to burrow paths through, eating as much of the inside of the piling as they can before exiting and moving onto the next wood food source.

The inspector found that all the pilings at the Sand Key docks show evidence of worm infestation and damage.