PORT TOWNSEND — A project to dismantle a breakwater at Fort Townsend State Park will make the beach more accessible, according to the park manager.
“Right now, people have a hard time getting over the rocks,” said Brian Hageman, who also manages Fort Worden and Fort Flagler state parks.
“This will create a more natural setting.”
Constructed in 1850s
The breakwater overlooking the water was constructed when the fort was an active installation in the 1850s to improve military visibility.
Dismantling it will take about six weeks. The project must begin by the middle of July to comply with the yearly fish window that begins in September, said Cheryl Lowe, water programs coordinator for the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee, which is organizing the project.
“The purpose is to create a more natural habitat for birds and forage fish,” Lowe said.
“It will make access to the beach much easier.”
The entire cost will be about $400,000, including up to $300,000 for construction costs and $100,000 for oversight and design.
Information about the project will be provided during beach walks that take place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday at the park, which is about 5 miles south of Port Townsend.
The Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee will sponsor free guided beach walks as well.
The 367-acre park has 3,960 feet of shoreline and 6.5 miles of trails.
Bluff reduced
Lowe said the bluff that protrudes out into the water will be reduced about 80 percent. The reclaimed land will become part of the beach.
This will lead to a nearly uninterrupted strip of beach from Kala Point to just south of the Port Townsend paper mill.
Lowe said the project was first proposed in 2012. A feasibility study was completed and it was expected to begin in 2014, but the required permits took longer than expected to obtain, Lowe said.
Among permits needed were those from the Army Corps of Engineers, Jefferson County and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A qualified contractor also did not immediately emerge, she said.
The contractor, Pacific Pile & Marine of Seattle, is expected to remove 300 cubic yards of rock and 100 cubic yards of fill, Lowe said.
The pieces will be removed by a barge floated in at high tide. The barge will be loaded during low tides and moved out to sea when the tide returns.
This process is necessary because the steep access path from the park to the beach is too narrow and unstable to support heavy equipment, Lowe said.
The reconstructed beach will create easy access for small boats and could be used as a kayak launch point, Lowe said, but this would require navigating a steep hill while carrying a kayak.
A more likely use is as a pit stop for boats traveling up and down the channel, she said.
Funding comes from several sources, according to project manager Lisa Kaufman of the Northwest Straits Commission.
The feasibility and design phase was funded by a grant from the Northwest Straits Commission with support from the Puget Sound Partnership, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Estuary Salmon Restoration Program.
Construction, outreach and education were funded by the state departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources along with the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program, Kaufman said.
For more information, visit www.jeffersonmrc.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
