Angry lake unleashes a test

A storm on Monday that generated fierce waves gave the new railing on the Port breakwater its first test.

The railing, which has been damaged by severe winter storms since it was first installed, was unscathed after the storm.

Port Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said Monday’s storm didn’t have the same force or impact for several reasons.

The winter storms that damaged the railing did so after ice had built up on it, and the damage was exacerbated by the force of the waves and ice carried on the waves that struck the rail, he said.

“It’s the ice forming on it that causes the problem. It’s the railing becoming a solid object, carrying all the extra weight,” he said. “It’s the energy of the lake.

“That’s what causes the railing to fail.”

The city will remove the railing and close the breakwater when winter comes, Vanden Noven said.

The city is also working with the Army Corps of Engineers to place additional armor stone along the lake side of the breakwater near the gateway, he said.

That would help dissipate the energy of the waves that currently just roll along the sheetwall and gain strength, Vanden Noven said.

This work is currently in the planning stage, he said, adding the city is working to find funding for the armor stone.

To help with that, Vanden Noven said, officials are meeting with representatives of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office to discuss potential funding sources.

The hope is that the Army Corps can do the work next summer, when it places armor stone along the south breakwall, he said.

The city has spent much of the past eight years working to repair the breakwater, which was deemed structurally unsound by the Army Corps in 2013.

The structure is owned by the federal government, which had no interest in undertaking the expensive repair project, but officials set out to make it happen, raising millions in grants and investing city funds as well.

Last month, the city held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the project, which has converted what was once a treacherous pathway to the lighthouse to  a smooth stable surface ready to shepherd people as they make their way to the Port’s iconic lighthouse.