New Bulkhead Complete At 90 Bridge St.; Clears Way For Ambitious Project To Proceed

CHATHAM – The town-owned property at 90 Bridge St. now sports a modern, new bulkhead, paving the way for the next phase of construction on the multi-use shorefront facility planned for the site. The bulkhead project is coming in essentially on budget, which is lower than officials first expected the job to cost.

 Giving an update to the South Coastal Harbor Plan Committee on Nov. 13, Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon said he’s pleased with the work.

 “I think it came out really well,” he said. “The contractor was great to work with” and assigned an excellent project team, Keon added. The work was done by New Bedford-based AGM Marine Contractors under an original contract for $1,516,500.

 The final cost of the bulkhead will be known when the company submits its final invoice, Keon said.

 “There were some relatively minor change orders to increase cost but also some cost savings during the project,” he said. “The final cost will be close to the original contract amount.”

 Crews also installed some temporary pilings just outside the construction area from which a silt curtain is being hung, Keon told the committee. The curtain needed to be in place before Jan. 15, when marine construction usually pauses to protect juvenile winter flounder.

 “Allegedly if I put this in before that, the winter flounder won’t go inside of it,” he said. “If we couldn’t do that, we wouldn’t be able to build this thing in the winter or the spring. We’d have to wait until May.”

 The bulkhead and the dredging that preceded it were the first phases of the larger project, which will ultimately include a large pier surrounded by floats, supporting the renovated Coast Guard boathouse. That structure will be the new home for the town’s upweller, used to grow shellfish from seed.

 With the bulkhead seeing no significant cost overruns, does that bode well for the cost of the remaining phases of the project?

 “I wish I had the numbers coming in for the next round, but we don’t have that yet,” Keon told the committee. A consultant is currently completing a bid package, which should be issued by the end of December. The town hopes to award a contract by the end of January or early February, he said.

 “That’s going to be constructing the main pier for the upweller. The small pier that’s on the site now gets extended by another 12 feet or so. That will have a side float to it,” Keon said. Then gangways and floats will be installed around the main pier. The center of the main pier will feature a concrete pad for the upweller. “We also want to put the foundation in for the new restroom during that phase,” he said. The restroom will occupy roughly the same spot as a rustic shed that was formerly on the property.

 The following phase of the job will involve “vertical construction,” with the installation of the restored boathouse.

 “It sounds very simple: pick it up, put it on the site, and then outfit it as an upweller,” Keon quipped. The boathouse is currently in storage on the South Shore, and will need to be brought to Stage Harbor by barge and hoisted by crane onto the new pier.

 In a special town meeting in September, voters approved $4 million to complete all three phases of the $11.03 million project, which is designed to be used by both recreational and commercial mariners. It also will provide recreational and educational opportunities for visitors, and will be a significant historic preservation project, bringing the Coast Guard boathouse back to the harbor where it stood for decades.