Work is proceeding full steam ahead on the reconstruction of the Eastport breakwater, which partially collapsed last December. Although some observers have questioned how fast the work is going, Dan Vino, CPM Constructors' field superintendent for the project, states, "There is an incentive to get the job done early. It's not only beneficial to the community but also beneficial to the company." With less overhead expense once the project is completed, Vino notes, "It doesn't pay to lag on the job."
     The workers are on the job five days a week, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an eight-hour day on Friday, though. Of the 12 workers now on site, nine, including four welders, are from the local area. "It's good for local people to have the jobs," Vino says. "It's a good crew with local people." He notes that perhaps 40 had applied for positions and at some point there may be 25 workers on site.
     Vino points to some of the preparation work that is taking quite a bit of time at present. Much of the work involves welding. "There's a lot more to it than people see," he says, noting that as a safety measure metal beams were welded on along the approach to ensure that the 110-ton crane sitting there would not cause another pier failure. A second crane will be brought on site to finish driving the sheet piling, but Vino says there's no reason to have two cranes now, with one not being used.
     He also points out that the work has to be scheduled around the tides and that there was some delay in pile-driving during July because the loud noise could disturb seals in the bay. That issue has now been resolved. Under federal regulations, for a period of time work had to stop if a marine mammal was spotted within 1,000 meters of the breakwater, but after acoustic monitoring determined the sound decibel level and frequency at distances from the pier, the exclusion zone distance was reduced to 30 meters. Vino notes that "all are happy with the results now" and that there "are always setbacks on jobs."
     Concerning the construction schedule, Vino says the first phase is to build the new approach, which will be about eight feet wider than the present one, and the second phase is to build the new 400' x 50' pile-supported pier on the water side of the 1985 addition, which will remain in place. A bulkhead of sheet piling will be driven on the outside faces of the pier to protect the inner basin from waves. Both phases can be worked on at the same time.
Within the next two or three weeks, CPM will begin digging out the fill in the approach, going down about 20 feet.      About 5,000 to 6,000 cubic yards will be taken out. The old sheet piling will be removed, and new sheet piling will be driven.
      All of the sheet piling is now in Eastport, but the pipe piles to support the new section of pier are being shipped by rail to Hampden and then will be trucked to Eastport. They should be arriving by mid-September. CPM is planning to begin driving the pipe pilings by the end of September and, working through the winter, hopes to have that work done before the end of the winter. In the spring, concrete for the deck of the new section will begin to be poured, with each pour having to cure for seven days.
     Driving frames that weigh 22,000 pounds are being made on site, with both a top and a bottom frame ensuring that the pipe pilings will be plumb and in the correct location. A diesel hammer that provides 46,000 pounds of pressure will drive the 48 pilings for the new outer section of the breakwater about 40 feet into the sea bottom. The bottom eight feet of the pilings have fins, which help "fetch them up better," says Vino.
     Vino notes that the horizontal metal walers that help tie the sheet piling together will extend about a foot outside of the pilings, which will make them more easily accessible for any repair work later. With the old breakwater, the walers were inside the breakwater, and some believe that their bolts let go, which contributed to the partial breakwater collapse.
     Near the end of the project, the remainder of the old breakwater will be removed. While 6,000 cubic yards of fill have been dug out from the collapsed portion of the breakwater, about 24,000 yards still remain.
      CPM expects the project to take the two years allotted, with the target finish date being June 30, 2017.