The Trenton Times published the following article on April 25, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Mercer County to install dock near Arm & Hammer Park

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on April 25, 2013 at 9:00 AM, updated April 25, 2013 at 9:02 AM

TRENTON — The county’s floating dock near Arm & Hammer Park, which never made it into the Delaware River last year because repairing storm damage to the structure took much of the summer, is finally being installed in its usual place.

Workers yesterday attached a section of the 600-foot dock to its moorings on the river bank near the ballpark, as they had done annually until last year. As of yesterday afternoon it appeared that half of the dock had been installed.

Kevin Bannon, executive director of the county parks commission, said the whole project should be finished by next Friday. “Our contractor said they’re off to a good start and things are going quite well,” he said.

The dock, which is used by boaters, fishermen, workers at adjoining state offices and others, has been damaged and had to be repaired over the years, most recently during tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011.

The county repaired the structure and added a “debris diverter” intended to keep floating branches from causing new damage, spending $115,000, 75 percent of it funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hazard mitigation grant program.

The diverter will be attached at the north end of the dock where it will face the current, Bannon said.

“It deflects all of the debris that comes floating down the Delaware. At times it comes floating down at a very high speed,” he said.

The repairs by a Trenton firm, G.M.H. Associates of America, were initially expected to be done by last July, which would have allowed the dock to be installed and used for part of the summer.

But it was not returned to the county until late August, leaving little time before it would have been removed in mid-September, and county recreation officials decided not to install it for the year.

Bannon said it wasn’t easy to find all of the necessary materials for the repairs.
“It was the availability of parts. We had to go to a Canadian company. It wasn’t a cost thing last year. It was more getting our hands on everything we needed to get the repairs done,” he said.

People who use the dock regularly had expressed disappointment that it wasn’t installed last year, but they were understanding when they found out the reason, Bannon said.
“People understood. They’ve seen the history with the storms we’ve had and the way that current is. I think they were encouraged that we were able to rebuild it a little stronger than it is,” he said.

“It’s not just a fisherman dock. A lot of people walk on it. A lot of people take lunchtime walks on it.”

The dock was built and installed in 2002 for $1 million, with the intention of providing continued access to the Delaware River for fishermen and boaters as the riverfront underwent new development. The plan envisioned baseball fans piloting their boats to the stadium as an alternative to driving.

The county is required maintain the dock under an agreement with the state, county officials have said.

The dock must be removed, stored and reinstalled each year. Hydro-Marine Construction, a division of The Castle Group, has a two-year contract with the county to install and remove the structure at a cost of about $103,000 a year, officials said last summer.
The dock previously required repairs in 2004, after a string of below-freezing January days caused ice damage that required $115,000 in repairs, as well as $200,000 in spending to remove the dock from the water.

Asked if he thinks the dock can withstand the next big pounding from the Delaware, Bannon noted that the river cannot be underestimated.

“I’m not going to say anything about Mother Nature because she has a way of getting back at you. I think we really do have an improved dock. It’ll be stronger and more prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at you.”

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.

Staff writer Tony Hagen contributed to this report.