Living Breakwaters Construction Update - November 2021

In the past month, the project has been pushing ahead smoothly. Placement of the marine mattresses and crushed stones that form the base layer of Breakwater ‘A’ and Breakwater ‘B’ was substantially completed in October. Work is now beginning on placing the marine mattresses for Breakwater C which is scheduled to be finished by the end of November, at which point work on Breakwater D will commence. As mentioned in our last update, between now and the end of the year, the contractor, Weeks Marine will be working on base layers of breakwaters ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’. Work on breakwater ‘E’ will start at the end of 2022. You can expect to see emergent areas of the breakwaters next spring when the Contractor is expected to finish placing the core and armor stones for Breakwater 1. At the Carver Stone Quarry in Johnstown, NY the stone production process for the breakwaters is ongoing. At the Port of Coeymans near Albany, NY the marine mattresses fabrication and filling process for the rest of the breakwaters also concluded last month. In the meantime, production for Precast Ecological Concrete units has started at New Jersey Precast Plant. These units will be installed on the breakwaters starting early next year.

 

What are Precast Ecological Concrete units? While the breakwaters will be constructed largely of stone, a percentage of the armor stone will be replaced with bio-enhancing concrete armor units or tidepools. These ecologically enhanced concrete units are located in the intertidal and subtidal areas of the breakwaters and are specially designed to promote biological activity and promote recruitment of marine species while contributing to the breakwaters’ stability and longevity. This is achieved through both the specialized concrete mixture and the design of the textured surfaces of the units. To increase complexity further, the units themselves are able to accommodate various treatment add-ons which can be inserted into the units’ faces.

 

See Living Breakwaters featured on TV!

Living Breakwaters was featured on Good Morning America and WABC in early-November. Good Morning America’s meteorologist Ginger Zee broadcast live from the barge where construction is taking place, showing viewers across the nation how the marine mattresses are being lowered. GOSR’s Emily Thompson was also featured on WABC with meteorologist Brittany Bell discussing how Living Breakwaters enhances resiliency and protects the coastline.

 

Correction to October update as our schedule has changed since

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. 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.