Ponce’s Landing is an existing commercial wharf facility located on the southwest of Long Island, Maine. The property is currently owned by the Town of Long Island and is primarily used by commercial fishermen. Prior to the construction of Mariner’s Wharf in 1996, the facility served as the ferry landing for Long Island.
The existing timber pier extends approximately 170 feet from shore, with a 12-foot-wide approach pier, and a pier head with 32-foot and 40-foot-wide sections. The pier consists of heavy timber framing and decking on timber piles with timber diagonal bracing and has a total area of approximately 3,000 square feet. Estimated to be between 50 and 65 years old, the pier needed repair due to a combination of deterioration and severe storm damage.
GEI performed an above and underwater inspection of the pier based on ASCE MOP 130 to determine the type, extent, and severity of deterioration to structural elements. The inspection scope also included drone-based survey and elevation survey of the pier to establish existing structure elevation, assess future impacts of sea level rise, and support resilient repair design. After identifying existing deterioration, an assessment was performed to evaluate the impact of existing conditions on the structure capacity, lifespan, and risks from usage, environmental forces, coastal storms, and sea level rise. Options were then developed for repair, rehabilitation, or partial or complete reconstruction of the facility that consider the range of risks.
Recommendations were developed based on immediate, short-term, and long-term timelines. Recommendations included: immediate usage restrictions to limit use of the most deteriorated sections of the structure, short-term repairs (1-2 years) to restore pier function through the remaining service life, and long-term recommendations for full replacement in approximately 10 years. Multiple conceptual designs were prepared for future structure replacement that provided a range of pier dimensions, features, and combinations of berths for fishing vessels and small recreational craft.
In addition, a resilience assessment was undertaken for pier replacement to understand risks from future sea level rise and support recommendations for increasing the elevation of the pier and landside access.
