Port of Allyn makes progress on pier replacement

Kirk Boxleitner | Jun 15, 20230

Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola reported progress on a few fronts at the June 5 port meeting, including the pier replacement project being allotted $515,000 in the port’s capital budget.

Coppola summed up the port’s options as either replacing the pier with a new structure or sleeving the existing pilings, which would effectively remove creosote from the water in addition to halting the deterioration of the pilings.

“However, we will have to drive new pilings for the ones that are missing,” Coppola told port commissioners. “We are exploring the feasibility and useful life of both, versus their costs.”

In the meantime, the contractors who repaired the port’s north shore dock submitted a bid of $651,327.63 to sleeve the pilings, which did not include driving new pilings for the ones that need to be replaced.

“That would be an additional $51,000 to replace the missing four pilings,” Coppola said.

Having obtained the specifications, the contractor used to develop this bid, Coppola is developing a request for proposals to post to the Municipal Research and Services Center, to see whether any other contractors can beat this price, and stay within the port’s budget.

“Sleeving the pilings should fix the immediate problems, and put off any rebuilding for at least 10 or more years,” Coppola said. “But we won’t know enough to make a decision until we receive other bids, which we would be required to solicit anyway.”

The port is still dealing with “extensive damage” left by sea lions that “invaded” the port’s dock. Coppola has scheduled a meeting with representatives of Enduris, the port’s Spokane-based insurer, so it could inspect the damage.

“To prevent this from happening again, I’ve contacted a fencing contractor to see if it’s possible to construct a fence on the dock, with gates for boaters,” Coppola said. “It would have collars around the pilings, similar to what we use on the north shore, to allow the fencing to move up and down with the floats.”

While Coppola waits on a bid for that, he warned port officials that the port would need to replace all its power and water pedestals.

During the Washington Public Ports Association’s spring meeting, Coppola noted “there was a lot of talk” about electrically powered boats becoming more common in the next few years, so he’s begun looking into the possibility of retrofitting the port’s dock with pedestals that also include chargers for boats.

“I’m still researching this, and my main question is, do we need an additional power supply and electrical panel to supply just the chargers on the pedestals, or will the chargers also power the electrical outlets on the boats?” Coppola said. “If not, and we do need an additional power supply and panels, we will need to find grant money for that.”

Speaking of needing more money, Coppola told commissioners he needed their approval to exceed his spending authority for an engineering proposal for the Sargent Oyster House. Commissioners granted his request.

“I contacted our engineer and asked them to draw plans for what we would need to do, to relocate the (Oyster House) building and cantilever it over the water,” Coppola said. “They submitted the proposal in your meeting packets.”

Because it would require a change in scope for the grants funding the project, Coppola had already sent the port’s grant manager the pertinent paperwork, and he informed commissioners that state Rep. Dan Griffey had pledged to help “run interference” with the Department of Commerce, if needed.

According to Coppola, the latest proposed design for the foundation for the placement of the Oyster House, including the footers and the sea wall, could run as much as $50,000.

“There’s a certain distance we can lever it out, without tripping the need for an Army Corps of Engineers permit,” Coppola said. “We just don’t want to go through the Army Corps permit process again. It’ll take another year just for them to process the permit, plus the increased mitigation regulations would probably add $100,000 to the cost.”