The Haines Borough’s Small Boat Harbor expansion project just can’t catch a break.
Another obstacle has surfaced in the form of the 20-foot gap between the existing rubble mound breakwater and the proposed steel wave barrier.
The Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for issuing the 408 permit integral to the project’s continuation, is concerned about potential wave transmission through the gap, said borough harbormaster Shawn Bell.
“The Army Corps is wanting to have that gap closed. They are worried about the waves funneling in there at increased velocity and dislodging some of the rocks,” Bell told the Port and Harbor Advisory Committee on Jan. 28.
The prospect of having to close the gap immediately alarmed committee members, who despaired about the additional expense. Committee member Terry Pardee called closing the gap “a problematic situation in terms of cost,” and Bell acknowledged he “wouldn’t be surprised if it was a significant cost increase.”
“It almost seems to me like somebody doesn’t want to see this thing happen at all. And I’d dearly love to find out who that is,” Pardee said. “This is ridiculous.”
Committee member Don Turner speculated closing the gap would lead to further cutbacks on the rest of the project, such as shrinking the wave barrier further or eliminating other amenities. “The harbor is going to be shrunk up and I don’t know what you do about it,” Turner said.
Interim borough manager Brad Ryan said PND Engineers, the firm in charge of the project, won’t ballpark a cost until it has identified a solid, viable plan for closing the gap. Some of the “off-handed” numbers that were thrown out “may hurt the project a bit, but they weren’t a sinker and a deal-breaker,” Ryan said.
“There is some concern that they are just going to continue to drag this out and we’re never going to be able to move forward. Everybody’s frustrated, I guess,” Ryan said in an interview this week.
At last week’s meeting, Bell outlined two potential fixes: extending the sheet pile wave barrier or extending the rubble mound. The first would require additional, expensive excavation; the second is likely unfeasible because of sea floor conditions, unless expensive wick drains are installed.
“(If) we add additional rock and heavier rock to close this gap, well then we face the same problem we faced with doing a rubble mound to begin with. When we add additional load here, we know the underlying clays are unstable,” Bell said.
There also appears to be a discrepancy between how big PND believes the rubble mound rocks are and how big the Corps thinks they are. “I think PND fully understands there is going to be an increased velocity in there but they feel like the rubble is sufficient enough to withstand it, and there seems to be some discrepancy about the size of the rubble in there,” Ryan said.
That issue will be cleared up by a field visit by the Corps, Ryan said.
As of this week, PND engineers and the Corps engineers are working together to identify a solution that doesn’t tank the project financially.
Bell and Ryan tried to get the Port and Harbor Advisory Committee to look on the bright side. Even though closing the gap will cost extra money, at least the 408 permit process is moving along quickly.
“The really good news is that they are taking immediate time and action on this. They could easily just be putting this to the side and talking to us three months from now. So at least that is in our favor,” Bell said.