40 Marina Dock Age November/December 2020
Port of Alsea Starting Marina Replacement
After a year's delay due to environmental mitigation issues, the Port of Alsea on the Oregon coast has launched its long-needed dock replacement project. Roxie Cuellar, the port manager, said that current marina dates back to 1986. It has 39 side tie slips, with most boats in the 17 to 19-foot range. There was also an ADA-accessible crabbing and fishing platform and a daily-use boat launch, but Cuellar had to shut down some sections of these deteriorating wood and concrete docks. Cuellar had hoped to start the renovation last year, but had to wait for environmental agencies to determine what mitigation projects it wanted the marina to perform before it would give permission for work to proceed. Work finally got underway in late October. The general contractor for the project, Bergerson Construction, will remove the existing marina and build a new one a little further to the east. The new dock will extend an additional 40 feet into the water because the marina is replacing its side ties with slips. The Port basin will be dredged to remove16,000 cubic yards of material, which should put the depth at seven feet throughout the marina. The docks will be built with high- density polyurethane tubes for buoyancy, topped by a steel encapsulated frame. The decking will be a grated surface that allows the sunlight to penetrate under the dock. The idea is to discourage predator fish from lurking in the dark waters of the dock and going out to grab the salmon smolts that travel down the Alsea River. The marina is rebuilding the 18-square-foot, ADA-accessible crabbing and fishing platform, and will be enlarging the daily boat launch ramp to two lanes with a boarding platform between. The parking lot, which is currently three-quarters paved, will be completed with new paving. The Port of Alsea has taken on two mitigation projects in conjunction with the dock replacement project. It will mitigate the new boat launch with the removal of broken-up concrete blocks on the north side of the bay, west of the marina. For the marina itself, the mitigation will involve removal of an earthen dam on the north side of the bay, east of the marina. The costs of the project will be partially covered by a $3.3 million bond approved by voters in the Port District. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife awarded the Port a $325,000 grant for the boat launch and another $100,000 grant for the floating fishing and crabbing platform. The Oregon State Marine Board provided a $28,000 grant for the boat launch and $40,000 for the parking lot paving, and Lincoln County gave the marina $13,000 to buy a new pay station for daily launches. The in-water work, which started in November, must be completed by February 15th. The remaining work should be done by spring, with a planned reopening date of April 15th.
Volunteers Install Docks at Yacht Club
Lake Ontario has been experiencing some very high water levels in the past few years, and the Rochester Yacht Club (RYC), located on the Genesee River at the south shoreline of the lake, has suffered the consequences: a good number of its 164 slips have not been usable. Working with Meeco Sullivan, and doing all of the installation work themselves, RYC members were able to reclaim some of those slips with a brand-new dock from Meeco Sullivan. It's part of a multi- year, multi-million-dollar renovation plan that RYC launched in 2016. Meeco Sullivan won the dock replacement contract in December 2019 and delivered the steel dock sections to the site in May 2020. The dock includes 16 fingers ranging from 30 feet to 40 feet, creating 34 slips. Meeco Sullivan engineers developed a unique, non-visible steel pile system that provides club members with unobstructed views of the marine basin. The system consists of a pile at the end of each finger fastened internally, with the only visible piece being a small round disc that the pile nests into. "This is a great assist to navigators, since they don't have to be on the lookout for piles while coming into their slip," said Steve Psaila, Meeco Sullivan's regional sales manager. RYC chose black locust decking for the new dock, since members were adamant about selecting an environmentally friendly wood. Black locust is better than ipe from an environmental standpoint because it is less rare and reproduces faster. But it is also more difficult to work with, so some pieces of the decking had to be hand planed to fit correctly. One of the biggest challenges of the project was making sure that RYC members, all volunteers, would be successful in installing the new dock. To make the project run as smoothly as possible, Meeco-Sullivan compiled a step-by-step instruction manual for the dock installation. "Another component of the support was communicating the install stages to the crew, detailing what specific products each delivery truck contained," said Psaila, who was on location most days during installation. He said that Meeco Sullivan was in awe of the hard work and dedication displayed by RYC members. RYC is happy with the results and pleased to have the additional slips available. "The product was exactly as bargained for, and the delivery was on spot and on time, so our club could enjoy the new docks for a full first season in 2020," said Pat Basset, RYC facilities chairman and project manager.
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