Repairs made to breakwall
Residents in the city of Marquette may have awoken to the unfamiliar sound of a helicopter this morning, as crews began repairs on the lower harbor breakwall.
A chopper spent the morning delivering concrete to the end of the lower harbor breakwall. The one–day repair effort is to strengthen and repair the concrete platform that holds the light at the end of the breakwall.
“The base is what started to just degrade because of the wind and waves over the years, and the concrete was starting to give way.” U.S. Coast Guard Station Marquette BM2 Operations Petty Officer Joshua Kuhn said, “So they are re–pouring the concrete pad.”
“What it’s consisting of is putting about an 8–inch layer around the whole surface of it, the sides and the top.” Associated Redi–Mix and Block Business Manager Jim O’Dovero says, “We’re running about three–quarters of a yard of concrete, 3,500 pounds per trip out there. The trip time right now is running about three minutes per trip.”
As a part of the repair process, coast guard vessels created a safety zone of 400 yards around the work area that was closed to all boat traffic.