Bulkhead Rehabilitation Project
The Bulkhead Rehabilitation Project involves installing new fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheet piles waterward of the old seawall, infilling with concrete, and installing new mooring piles. The project is also elevating the bulkhead’s concrete cap in anticipation of sea level rise. The project will stabilize the 1977 system that supports the boardwalk and shoreline of the central waterfront. Holes in the old steel bulkhead have allowed fill material to escape into the river, the exposed tie back anchor bolts in the embayment’s bulkhead are corroding and failing, and the old mooring piles for the seasonal floats have been breaking underwater. Construction began in September 2023, and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2024. Overall public access to the boardwalk will generally remain open except for segments that are temporarily closed during construction activities. The City has secured $5.3M in grants to support this “Phase II” project including $1.75M from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), $1.3M from the state Seaport Economic Council, and $2.25M from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The contractor is BTT Marine Construction Company, and the designer and construction manager is GEI Consultants.
Updates:
February 29, 2024:
A. Current Construction Status:
The Bulkhead Rehabilitation Project continues to be on schedule and on budget. The contractor has completed driving all of the FRP sheetpiles, a major milestone, bolted them into the existing steel bulkhead system, and the concrete subcontractor has been following along behind pouring infill concrete. The installation of the new timber fender pile system in the embayment has begun, and the steel mooring piles are anticipated to be delivered in early March. The new cleats for tying up boats are on order, and the subcontractor is preparing the cleats’ rebar anchors. All “in-water” work including driving the new mooring piles is expected to be completed by April, and the concrete cap and wall extension work will continue into the summer of 2024.
B. Photos:
January 25, 2024:
A. Current Construction Status:
The Bulkhead Rehabilitation Project continues to be on schedule and on budget. Administratively, the city and its consultants are managing reporting, site visits, documentation, etc. with the state and federal agencies, as well as processing change orders, requests for information, certified payroll records, and so on. Most of the basic bulkhead work is complete within the embayment, and the contractor has begun drilling to secure the new timber fender pile system next month. The contractor is continuing to drive the FRP sheetpiles along the eastern bulkhead during the weeks when the tides are favorable, and anticipates completing them by the end of February if the weather is manageable. The crews have had to deal with some significant winter weather, flooding, and slick surfaces during recent weeks. Looking ahead, the contractor will install the steel mooring piles along the eastern bulkhead with the target of completing the pile-driving in-water work by the end of March, so they can then continue to work on all of the concrete and associated work from the landside in the subsequent months.
B. Photos:
December 21, 2023:
A. Current Construction Status:
The city’s contractor had to address a number of complications with removing the old steel mooring piles, which were breaking in half due to advanced corrosion and required specialized underwater equipment to remove the lower embedded portions, but that work is now complete. Granite block underwater obstructions also needed to be removed to facilitate driving the new sheetpiles along the eastern bulkhead. The contractor has fully installed the new sheetpiles in the embayment area and the concrete crew has been installing rebar and pouring concrete infill for the bulkhead, the concrete caps, and the elevated walls. The contractor has begun driving the new FRP sheetpiles along the eastern bulkhead. The project remains on schedule and on budget.
B. Photos:
October 13, 2023:
A. Current Construction Status:
The contractor is ahead of schedule on the Bulkhead project. Since mobilization, the contractor has completed the necessary demolition inside the embayment; completed repairs of the missing anchor bolts in the embayment; installed brackets on the embayment’s old steel bulkhead; assembled and hung rebar mats in anticipation of the concrete infill behind the new FRP sheets; taken delivery and stacked all the FRP sheetpiles; and begun installing FRP sheets in the southwest corner of the embayment. Another team has installed rebar and poured concrete for the higher elevation concrete bulkhead cap on the western tour boat side; they are now stripping the forms off of that concrete as it cures. The main anticipated upcoming work involves driving the new FRP sheetpiles inside the embayment with the barge mounted crane.
B. Photos:
