Two years after a drill rig dug near the Small Boat Harbor entrance to test the stability of soil, another drill rig is coming to Haines to begin work on Tuesday.
The $185,000 drilling, part of the harbor expansion project, will last until late September, said harbormaster Phil Benner.
Haines Borough public facilities director Carlos Jimenez said the drilling will collect soil samples to determine if any of the areas planned for dredging have contaminated material.
“They did some drilling a couple years ago, but not enough,” Jimenez said. “These are different spots for different reasons.”
The Environmental Protection Agency will test the samples to determine if they are high, medium or low risk, he said.
If the soil is not contaminated, some of it could be used in construction of the parking lot, Jimenez said.
Drilling also will be conducted to determine the depth of bedrock.
The shift in plans from a rubble mound breakwater to a 700-foot metal wave barrier necessitated the bedrock drilling, Benner said.
“They weren’t set up to drill to a depth that was needed for bedrock,” Benner said of the previous rig’s work. “It’s just a matter of determining what kind of pilings we need to put in.”
Because the rig will be working within the harbor, patrons will need to move their boats from Float A to Float B at certain times for up to 72 hours.
Benner said he put out notifications to slip holders and will try to give as much advance notice as possible. “When we’re sure they’re going to need to move – which we will know here in a week or so – we’ll get a hold of everybody and we’ll call them up,” he said.
The borough is asking for cooperation as delays are exceedingly expensive when it comes to drilling barges. “The last time we had a drilling barge, weather caused over $100,000 in delays,” Benner said.
Though the work is an inconvenience for boat owners, Benner said he hasn’t been getting complaints. “Everybody wants the harbor expansion,” he said.
Thirteen holes will be drilled throughout the existing and proposed harbor, Jimenez said.
Benner said if the soil samples are clean, dredging and installation of the breakwater will likely start next fall.
The wave barrier and associated dredging are estimated to cost $25 million. That price price tag includes $6.4 million for new floats, power, water, lighting, and parking expansion. It does not include $6.5 million for a fishermen’s drive-down float or funding for a boat launch, which is funded separately with sportfishing funds.
The borough has $18 million available for the project.