By Mike McCombs
The Island News
O’Quinn Marine Construction, under contract with the City of Beaufort, installed pilings last week adjacent to the seawall at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park to allow for the mooring of shrimp boats during festivals held at the park, particularly the upcoming Beaufort Shrimp Festival (Oct. 4-5).
According to City Manager Scott Marshall, this was a project that had been discussed among staff for some time as they researched the cost and feasibility of the project.
“We decided it was a good investment, especially since those [pilings] will stay until after the park is [repaired],” Marshall said.
Marshall said the cost of the pilings was well within the amount he has the authorization to spend and the proper permitting was acquired.
“[O’Quinn] needed to know in order to get started,” Marshall said. “They had other upcoming projects … we needed to go ahead and pull the trigger if we were going to do it and have it finished in time for the Shrimp Festival.”
According to the City’s news release from Wednesday, Sept. 18, the eight pilings were to be set “6 inches from the seawall, and span 150 feet. With these pilings, the shrimp boats will not put any stress on the relieving platform that undergirds Waterfront Park. This is a temporary solution to allow the boats to be at the festivals as they have in the past.”
Both the release and Marshall stressed that these pilings will not be used by cruise ships.
O’Quinn began the installation on Thursday, Sept. 19 and completed it the next day.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
