May 5, 2006 – Earl Williams stood beside his bike parked on the Frederiksted pier observing the crane methodically extracting sand from the bottom of the sea on the north side of the pier. "I'm just watching," he said, not taking his eyes away from the scene.
The object of Williams' attention was a 30-foot crane parked on a barge in the Frederiksted harbor. The crane operator maneuvered a clamshell bucket, controlled by pulleys swinging the apparatus left to right, lowering it into the sea, scooping up sand and debris, and emptying the catch into another barge parked alongside.
The dredging and other work being done at the Ann E. Abramson cruise ship pier would allow voyager class ships to dock at the facility to expand tourism on St. Croix.
Dredging includes the north and south sides of the pier, and will remove 25,000 cubic yards of sand and rubble on the north side and 22,000 cubic yards on the south side, to a width of 200 feet on each side.
Since March 20, a team from Cruzan Divers has been extracting approximately 240 piles left over from the old pier. The piles are being removed or cut to a minimum of one foot below the sea floor.
The old pier extended 900 feet from the shore but was destroyed in Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The existing pier, which was opened in July 1994, is 1,526 feet long.
The cruise ship pier and marine facility, located in Frederiksted, is the main cruise ship port on St. Croix.
Jeff Lawler, Port Authority senior engineer, said the project is "on track." He said the contractor assured VIPA in a recent meeting that based on their schedule they would meet the target date.
VIPA approved the permit to dredge in 2004. The contract to dredge was awarded to V.I. Cement and Building Products. Since then the work has experienced numerous setbacks partly attributed to delays in permitting and application approvals.
The project also faced resistance from ecological groups. Additionally,
VICBP's parent company, Devcon International, located in Deerfield, Fla., was substantially damaged in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. And, when Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast the company's dredging equipment was sent to assist in the Mississippi and Louisiana area.
Lawler said the target date is early August, which is within the agreed upon 163 days after the March 20 Notice to Proceed was issued.
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