Living Breakwaters Construction Updates

GOSR hosted a Public Shore Tour on September 25, 2021 to celebrate the start of construction. We were joined by members of the project’s Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), local residents, and students. Thank you to everyone who joined us. We plan to host future events as construction progresses.

 

September marked the beginning of in-water construction on Living Breakwaters and it has been busy two months! Placement of the 263 marine mattresses that form the base layer of Breakwater A was completed in early October and work has begun on placing the marine mattresses for Breakwater B. Mattresses are being placed by an e-Crane visible from the shore in Conference House Park. Work on Breakwater C is expected to start in November. Breakwater construction will generally proceed from the southwest, where the base layer of the first Breakwater (A) is being installed, to the northeast, where the final Breakwater (H) will be installed in the future. Between now and the end of the year, the contractor, Weeks Marine will be working on installing the Marine Mattresses and crushed stone that form the base layers of breakwaters A, B, C, D, and E. Thus, emergent areas of the breakwaters will not be visible until early next year. The stone production process for the breakwaters is also ramping up at the Carver Stone Quarry in Johnstown. The contractor will commence placement of these stones on top of the mattresses near the end of the year.

 

What is a marine mattress and how are they used on the breakwaters? Marine mattresses form the base of the Living Breakwaters. They are rectangular mattress-shaped baskets that are made up of high-strength geogrid-a geosynthetic mesh- and filled with stones. Each of the Living Breakwater marine mattresses is about 6’ wide and with varied lengths typically ranging from 16’ to 22’. Marine mattress is used to distribute the breakwaters’ weight and protect against the effect of scour.