Rochester Harbor east pier repairs to resume in Spring 2021

The USACE Buffalo District and its contractor Dean Marine & Excavating, Inc. will resume repairs of the Rochester Harbor east pier, located in Rochester, New York, in Spring 2021. 

Jess Levenson, USACE

The remaining repairs, the concrete cap and pier lighting, are expected to be completed within a month of resuming construction, said USACE.

Despite COVID-19 related delays affecting supplies and personnel, the contractor completed sheet pile installation, tie rods, whalers, granular fill, and concrete bulkhead. All wave absorber stones have been placed and roughly 50% of rebar has been installed. 

“The east pier, commonly referred to as the Summerville Pier, is a key piece of infrastructure for commercial and recreational navigation in Rochester Harbor,” said Lex Barker, Buffalo District, project manager. “We are aware that construction has caused impacts to recreation.”  

The Rochester Harbor east pier was constructed in 1908, and sections of the shoreward and lake ends were reconstructed in 1954 and 1971. 

USACE is using available funds to repair about 600 feet of the roughly 1,000-foot degraded section of the Rochester Harbor east pier. 

The section under repair is in the middle of previously repaired sections, and is close to the original construction, where the concrete cap is in poor condition and is structurally degraded. 

Repair of the remaining approximately 400 feet of degraded reach of the east pier would be dependent upon receiving additional funding.