Donax Village elevated to protect from flooding
Eleven buildings that make up the Donax Village on Sanibel were recently elevated to 11 feet.
On Aug. 4, local officials and the island community were in attendance to celebrate the major project by Davie Shoring to lift the nine duplexes and two cottages in the air, protecting them against any future floods and storm surge. The company reported that the ambitious project affected 20 residents.
During the ceremony, Mayor Mike Miller declared Aug. 4 as Donax Village Day via proclamation.
He also pressed one of the honorary buttons that kicked off the lifting process for the structures.
Sunny 106.3’s Gina Birch served as the host.
Donax Village Homeowners Association representatives were in attendance, as well as Davie Shoring officials, including Chief Executive Officer Warren Davie and Project Supervisor Chris Ellis Sr.
“This monumental moment is a bold and necessary step towards storm resilience and coastal sustainability,” the company said. “Davie Shoring is helping protect Donax Village from future flooding, one lift at a time.”
A local taco truck and Kona Ice truck helped to keep everyone cool and full.
Davie Shoring shared the following about the project:
– More than 2,850 labor hours
– Nine tons of permanent steel in each structure
– More than 3,000 nuts, bolts and washers
– Twelve tons of lifting steel underneath each building to prepare them to rise 11 feet off the ground
– Five specialized hydraulic jacking machines, along with 90 hydraulic lifting jacks, utilizing over 6,000 6-by-6-inch wooden blocks to get the buildings ready to rise
– 16,000 linear feet of steel rebar and 320 cubic feet of poured concrete to make the new foundation
– Columns built from 2,700 16-by-16-inch blocks and 600 heavy-duty crib blocks utilized to support the new height