Breakwater work to protect city’s investment

PORT WASHINGTON - A contractor working for the Army Corps of Engineers will be on Port Washington’s lakefront during the next week shoring up the armor stone that protects the north breakwater.

“This is something we’ve been asking for,” Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said Tuesday. “It’s great to see this investment in protecting our breakwater. We spent a lot of money to improve it, and so did they.”

A crew from Roen Salvage of Sturgeon Bay was expected to begin mobilizing at the lakefront this week, Vanden Noven told the Common Council last week.

The crew will place armor stone on the lake side of the breakwater near the entrance and on the harbor side near the lighthouse.

Vanden Noven said the crew will bring the armor stone in by barge and place it along the breakwater, docking at Coal Dock Park each night.

The actual work on the structure is expected to take two days, Sept. 4 and 5, he said, noting the breakwater will be closed during that time.

The armor stone is expected to reduce the energy of waves striking the breakwater, particularly during the fierce storms that churn the water during winter.

“That’s exactly what we wanted, to beef up the gateway area so when we get January storms they don’t take out the railing,” Vanden Noven said.

“This will reduce the possibility of damage from those winter storms.”

The city spent a significant amount of time and money to improve the breakwater after it was declared structurally unsound in 2013.

The project took seven years, and officials proudly opened the walkway to the lighthouse at its completion.

However, storms repeatedly damaged the railing at the gateway, prompting officials to not only seek extra armor stone from the Army Corps but work to shore up the railing.

Last year, the Army Corps sought an access agreement from the city so it could do the work this summer, but the work was delayed until now.