With its 275-ton capacity, a bystander joked that the Brightwater wouldn’t need to go under the O’Connell Bridge, but instead could “pick it up and move it!” (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
While the 280-foot crane Brightwater was positioned in Sitka Channel this week to drive pilings for the new Petro fuel dock, the enormous rig will be put to work on a public project next.
Turnagain Marine Construction, which operates the Brightwater, is expected to start work installing a floating dock at Sitka’s Gary Paxton Industrial Park at the end of May.
The $6.8 million project is mostly funded by grants. At its regular January meeting on Monday (1-09-17), the industrial park board voted to spend $60,000 to increase the width of the drive-down ramp from 14- to 18-feet.
Turnagain had offered to discount the installation of the wider ramp if the board also decided to ask the company to demolish the old utility dock adjacent to the project area.
The board instead opted to go with the wider ramp, and install 3-phase power to barge that will serve as the dock. Some board members thought that it might be possible to contract separately for demolition of the utility dock later, as well as the removal of abandoned timber pilings — using other park funding.
The board also discussed a fire suppression system for the new dock, and decided to seek advice from the Harbor Department about what type of crane to install.
The finished project will include the 250-foot floating dock, which will be 74-feet wide. Next to the barge will be a more conventional 120-foot floating dock for transient moorage.
The project is scheduled for completion by fall of this year.
