Governor Walker Announces $8 Million for Wisconsin Projects

Image source: Ellicott Dredges

Governor Scott Walker yesterday announced over $8 million in grants for five harbor maintenance and improvement projects in Wisconsin.

Improvements will promote waterborne freight and assist economic development in the communities where they are located, according to the Walker’s announcement.

Grantees include:

  • City of Superior (Douglas County) – $1.7 million to install new sheet piling at the Cenex Harvest States, Inc. facility in Superior to maintain a safe berth and extend the life of the grain elevator;
  • City of Washburn (Bayfield County) – $1,299,480 to reconstruct the northerly wall of the City Dock to preserve the only commercial deep draft harbor in the region. The City Dock is three blocks from the City’s central business district and serves as one of the last working bulk cargo docks in the Chequamegon Bay. Businesses in the Town of La Pointe on Madeline Island and others in the surrounding community rely on the City Dock;
  • SS Badger (Manitowoc County) – $1,016,500 to make permanent repairs to the damaged, failed steel pile bulkhead and fender system damaged during the 2015-2016 winter. The S.S. Badger was awarded emergency HAP funds in 2016 to make repairs to the bulkhead and keep the car ferry operational;
  • Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (Door County) – $3,623,600 to improve the dock wall construction and dredge the sediment to increase the production capacity of the shipyard and enhance operational efficiency. This grant, combined with other additional funding, will enable the shipyard to undertake more ship building and repair/outfitting projects;
  • KK Integrated Logistics (Brown County) – $452,975 to complete repairs to the dock wall enabling vessels to moor along the dock wall to load and unload shipments. Currently vessels are directed to other docks and ports, without the warehousing capacity nearby.

The Wisconsin’s Harbor Assistance Program was created in 1979 to help harbor communities maintain and improve waterborne commerce.

All applications for this program are reviewed by the Harbor Advisory Council, which includes members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, UW Sea Grant, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute.