Living Breakwaters Construction Update - February 2024
FEBRUARY 2024 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
In February, the contractor continued to place stone and ECOncrete™ units on Breakwater ‘F’s reef ridges and trunk. The crane barge W2223 is currently cresting off the trunk of this breakwater with armor stone and will be installing the navigation aids. Work on this breakwater is expected to be completed by early March. The construction team has also started to place armor stone and ECOncrete™ Armor Units on the trunk and reef ridges of Breakwater ‘G’ and ‘H’. You will see the iconic red W537 E-crane work on these two breakwaters for most of March. The E-crane will then be demobilized in April and the remaining stone placement work will be done by the W2223 crane barge and the smaller yellow amphibious excavators. Armor stone continues to be produced and delivered to site for the construction of the last two breakwaters at Silvi Quarry.
Along the shoreline between Manhattan and Loretto Streets, equipment has been delivered and fencing installed to delineate the Shoreline Restoration’s working zone. Sand placement operations began in February and will continue until mid-April, when activities will stop for Horseshoe Crab mating season (April 15 – July 15). Touch-ups to the work may be needed after April, but any additional work, if needed, would take place after the end of the Horseshoe Crab mating season (July 15).
Image Descriptions - Left: Aerial photo of Living Breakwaters (Credit: WMI + Bernstein Associates, January 2024) - Center: Aerial photo of construction at Breakwaters ‘E’ and ‘F’ (Credit: WMI + Bernstein Associates, January 2024) - Right: Photo of Shoreline Restoration under construction (Credit: Baird, February 2024)
FUN FACT: SHORELINE FINDS
Speaking of the shoreline, here’s a look back at some of the marine fauna and flora we found during our Fall Shorewalk on November 4, 2023! We found washed up Red Beard Sponges as well as sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae that are typical to the New York harbor estuary. Living Breakwaters provides additional rocky underwater substrate for sponges like the ones we observed to inhabit and thrive. And in turn, the sponges will accommodate more habitat for other small marine creatures in their structures and crevices. It was also interesting to see washed up algae, Sea Lettuce and Agardh’s Red Weed, that we just observed growing in one of Breakwater ‘E’s ECOncrete™ Tide Pools last summer!
Image Descriptions (Credit: SCAPE, November 2023) - Left Top + Bottom: Sea Sponges washed up on Tottenville shores - Right Top: Fall Shorewalk - Right Bottom: Sea Lettuce and Agardh’s Red Weed washed up on Tottenville shores, as compared to the image of Sea Lettuce and Agardh’s Red Weed growing in a Breakwater ‘E’s ECOncrete™ Tide Pool (see July + August 2023 Construction Update)
