Repair of a structural crack recently discovered in one of the Letnikof Harbor pontoon floats could add up to $45,000 onto the project’s price tag.
Work at the Letnikof Harbor revealed the one-and-a-half-inch thick crack in the steel, foam-filled pontoon May 2. The crack runs along the entire circumference of the pontoon.
Haines Borough public facilities director Carlos Jimenez said it’s hard to say why the pontoon cracked. “The crack didn’t happen this year. It’s obvious from the condition of it and the rust that it has been there for a year or two, maybe more. I’m guessing it’s from the rough water it has experienced there in the wintertime,” Jimenez said.
The fix, which involves adding a two-part sleeve called a “fish plate,” is estimated to cost $28,000 to $38,000, though the assembly last week approved spending up to $45,000.
“(The pontoon) could basically come apart in heavy, foul weather and either sink or float away, and if you had boats tied up to it, it could take those boats with it,” Jimenez said.
The float will be repaired using a “fish plate,” a two-part sleeve in which the inside diameter of the sleeve matches the outside diameter of the pontoon. The crack is fill welded, and the fish plate is installed around the pontoon and welded.
Divers discovered several additional, developing stress points on the float over the weekend, said Jimenez, though those will be covered by the installed plate.
Manager David Sosa said the repair is estimated to add five years onto the life of the float, though he is recommending the entire float be replaced at some point, “possibly when the (Small Boat Harbor) expansion at Portage Cove takes place.”
“This would cut the cost of contractor mobilization,” Sosa said.
“At this time there are no estimates on replacing the pontoon floats,” he added.
The Letnikof renovations, which are being done by Seattle-based Pacific Pile and Marine, include driving new piles and replacing the gangway with the old Port Chilkoot Dock gangway.
Though the initial Letnikof improvements came in at under $1 million, the assembly in August approved spending an additional $242,000 to extend the float an additional 17 feet offshore to keep it afloat during low tides.
The $45,000 to fix the crack brings the project total up to about $1.22 million.
Port and Harbor Advisory Committee Chair Norm Hughes said Sosa’s recommendation to replace the float in the near future doesn’t make the current work unnecessary. “If you design a new dock that fits the existing footprint, you can use the pilings and the gangway,” Hughes said.
The dive and weld team completed the work on the pontoon crack earlier this week.