December 20 found members of the Mattapoisett Select Board and the Marine Advisory Board sitting down to hash out next steps in the long-anticipated repairs and improvements for Long Wharf. But the process of making critical plans to a wharf located in the heart of the historic village is still in the early stages. Design and construction methods and materials have yet to be chosen.
The problem of making decisions on a 200-year-old structure boils down to this: No one knows what lies below the water’s surface, as in what is supporting the structure. Is it ledge or some other material.
Andrew Nilson of Childs Engineering, the town’s consultant, said that in the absence of data, it is difficult to put a price tag on construction and that coupled with contractors’ lack of interest in the job makes presenting solid figures to the town difficult at best. Cost estimates have ranged from $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 or more.
Materials have also been a source of confusion. Nilson said that plans include reuse of existing stones but that it is difficult to estimate how much new stone might have to be secured. He said plans also included the use of flowable fill to fill in cracks and concrete blocks.
Details of the work that were previously reported by Childs’ study produced four options. Option one, costing $4,700,000, would consist of precast concrete with steel reinforcing modular block and would be used to encapsulate the existing wharf. Option two would include using reinforced concrete wall installed in front of the existing wharf blocks to act as a retaining wall that would support the wharf and lock all blocks in place. The third option would use a steel sheet-pile wall. Childs noted in the report, “the advantage of this option is that it is typically more cost effective; the installation is less time consuming; however, it also has the least-natural appearance.” The fourth option would combine the use of concrete blocks and granite.
During their September 29 meeting, the MAB discussed the options again while the members awaited word from the Select Board as to the acceptability of a hybrid combination of construction styles that would give a more appealing outward appearance, employing concrete and granite blocks.
Harbormaster Jamie MacIntosh reminded the group that Childs had also recommended preparing for sea-level rise in the coming years by constructing the wharf in a manner that it could be heightened at a later date. This combination conceptual plan, which as yet has not been fully scripted by Childs, has an estimated $10,700,000 price tag, Chairman Carlos DeSousa stated.
After an hour of discussion, the Select Board concluded that Childs should give cost estimates for test borings, soil testing and angle probing to establish the current condition of the structure and the materials lying below the surface.
“There’s so much we don’t know,” stated Select Board member Jordan Collyer. The uncertainty makes decision making difficult at best, the board agreed.
There was also considerable discussion on the topic of sea-level rise and the possible need to take that into consideration when planning the wharf-construction work. Nilson said that most waterside projects are planning for water-level rise but only for the next 30 years or about 4 feet. “If we raise the height of the wharf now, does that change its functionality?” he asked. Nilson did think renovations should include the ability to add to the height in the future.
“Until we get into it, we aren’t going to know what we’ve got,” said Select Board Chairman Tyler Macallister, who went on to say the town should begin without knowing everything and plan for many contingencies. “We have to bite the bullet.”
It was agreed that Nilson will establish a testing protocol by mid-January, and then the two boards (MAB and the Select Board) will take the matter up for further exploration into what can be done and at what price.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board was not set at adjournment.
Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board
By Marilou Newell