Bronte Construction has been awarded a contract to repair the Port Dalhousie Piers by the Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard per the OntarioConstruction Report.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2019 and Bronte has started mobilization work at the site. The $26.3 million contract calls for the restoration of the piers.
Parts of the piers have been closed due to public safety since 2015. That was when serious substructure damage was discovered at both the east and west piers. The repairs are badly needed and will allow pedestrian access and boats to moor along the piers and will restore all of the previous functionality of the piers. The rehabilitation includes the following:
- Enclosing the existing wharves' timber support structure with new steel sheet piling and rock
- Replacing the concrete decks
"We have been working diligently for the past three years to safely reopen the Port Dalhousie Piers. This investment will preserve a piece of Canada's history that is also of critical importance to the economy in Ontario and the Niagara region."
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans & the Canadian Coast Guard | Jonathan Wilkins
Construction is expected to be completed by March 2021.
The federal government is investing $250 million over two years to renew its network of small craft harbours.
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According to On-Site Magazine, in a negotiation with the city, the Ministry of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard agreed to fund the project under the condition that the City of St. Catharines would resume ownership following rehabilitation work.
Per the St. Catharines Standard, the piers were so badly in need of repairs that when engineers checked out the site, they found the substructure, which dates back to the 1870's severely deteriorating and there was no viable short-term solutions to fix it. The concrete piers were built on a timber crib base and sections of wood had rotted away, leaving nothing to support part of the concrete walkway.
Ministry officials told the media in 2016 that the piers were in worse shape than originally thought and that the biggest concern was not part of the deck falling down, but that the entire piers could tip into the lake.
Residents and the city preferred the most expensive option for fixing the piers, which would allow pedestrians to walk on them and boats to moor like they did before the closure.
In July, 2018, the city council voted to take the piers over once the federal government fixed them in order to speed up the rehabilitation process.