The $4 million reconstruction project at Memorial Wharf in Edgartown is nearly halfway finished and back on track for completion by spring, after a few construction hiccups.
A major public works effort by the town in the face of rising seas, the project will raise the wharf about a foot and a half and rebuild its crumbling infrastructure, with a goal of shoring it up for decades to come.
Construction began this fall and will continue through the winter. The contractor for the project is BTT Marine Construction.
Funding is coming from $3 million in town meeting appropriations and $1 million state grant money from the Econonmic Seaport Council.
The wharf work is the second step of a three-phase, five-to-10 year project to overhaul and raise the entire parking lot. Future plans call for raising Dock street as well.
It marks the third major climate change-inspired project undertaken on the Edgartown Harbor in recent years.
Two years ago the Edgartown Yacht Club was raised and rebuilt on the other end of Dock street. A little farther down harbor, the historic Vose Boathouse was also raised and rebuilt.
At Memorial Wharf, unforeseen issues included a piling that was too close to an underwater electrical conduit and the discovery of significant corrosion in the steel sheathing beneath the parking lot adjacent to the Chappaquiddick Ferry.
“Any of the small issues that we’ve had to deal with we’ve overcome. We’ve got a good team in place . . . and we’re getting along with the [Chappy] ferry . . . we’re accommodating each other,” said Steve Ewing, chairman of the Memorial Wharf restoration committee, in a recent interview with the Gazette. “We’re moving ahead in a really productive way now. If the weather holds reasonably well, then we should be able to finish on time and within budget.”
Completion date has been set for Memorial Day.
Deterioration in the top 18 inches of steel sheeting was outlined in a memo from the engineer to the wharf committee. The bad steel was cut away, and a concrete cap will added to encase an additional 12 inches of steel. Then two feet of new steel will be added on top of the concrete cap.
“We came up with a good plan to deal with that,” Mr. Ewing said.
He said the concrete will be poured in the coming week.
Last month the utility giant Eversource flagged a proposed piling as being potentially too close to a bundle of undersea cables that supply power to Chappaquiddick. The town agreed to change the angle of the piling and an Eversource representative was on site to make sure everything went as planned.
“The Eversource issue was a challenge, which we dealt with and we came out of it fine. Everyone is happy with that conclusion and we were able to get all the pilings in where they needed to go to support the wharf and the pavilion without hitting the cables,” Mr. Ewing said.
The town incurred roughly $300,000 in additional costs for the work, according to a change order for the work. The cost falls within the contingency budget built into the contract, town administrator James Hagerty said.
All load bearing pilings have been driven, according to Mr. Ewing. Once the concrete cap is poured, the new wharf will be framed in front of it. The new wharf will then be decked and the pavilion will be slid back into place. The last part of the job involves repeating the cutting-and-capping process on the sides of the wharf not covered by the pavilion.
“To complete the job, there’s quite a bit more work to be done,” Mr. Ewing said.
Mr. Hagerty gave an update on the project to the Edgartown select board last week.
“We did run into some snags initially. I think we made up for that time accordingly,” he said. “There were obviously concerns about the underground power line. There were concerns about some of the status of the sheeting underneath, but we’ve caught back up. We’re still on pace, barring anything unexpected, we’re at about 45 per cent completion.”
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