Town officials hope a collapsed gangway at the Mitchell Field pier can be removed in time for the Harpswell Festival and lobster boat races at the end of this month, but another crumbling pier structure could pose further permitting challenges.
For now, according to Town Administrator Kristi Eiane, the work will focus on removing the collapsed gangway in order to complete most of that project before the July 29 Harpswell Festival and Lobster Boat Races.
Removing the mooring dolphin, a free-standing structure fixed in place by piles driven into the seabed, might pose further permitting challenges that Eiane said could delay or raise the cost of completing the project.
“The town is holding off on that aspect,” Eiane wrote in an email Wednesday to The Times Record. “The proposal for onsite disposal of the cell’s concrete and metal is not being received well by permitting agencies. They prefer to see the material removed off site, adding considerably more cost to the project.”
During a special town meeting in June, voters approved an appropriation of $25,000 for the removal of the fallen gangway and deteriorating mooring dolphin that collapsed this spring.
Prior to the collapse, Harbormaster
Jim Hays told The Times Record, town officials saw no reason to take action on the pier that was previously used to dock Navy fuel-carrying vessels.
In January, a review by engineers with the firm TEC Associates found the pier’s support structure “to be in very poor condition.”
That same report stated that the pier has an “unquantifiable life span before it fails from dead weight.”
In response to that review, town officials closed the pier to all pedestrian uses, but Eiane said the downed gangway raises concern about access to the pier from the water.
The instability of the rest of the pier structure also poses a challenge in the removal of the mooring dolphin as wrecking equipment can’t safely travel onto the pier. A barge and crane must be used to complete the work from the water.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less