PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles is moving forward with a nearly $1 million project to build a new headline dolphin for its cargo loading terminal, Terminal 3.
The board urged staff during its meeting Monday to put the contract out for bid.
A dolphin is a mooring point not attached to a dock.
By adding a headline dolphin to the 445-foot-long terminal, the port will be better able to meet the needs of incoming vessels.
Chris Hartman, director of engineering for the port, told commissioners Terminal 3 lacks safe tie-up points from the lines of the bow of vessels.
Now crews have to wrap lines around the bow and bring them back to the west side of the pier.
He said the tonnage and length of vessels making calls to the terminal are continuing to increase.
Engineers expect construction costs to be about $910,000, with administration costs estimated at about $80,000.
Hartman said the port has budgeted $950,000 for the project but that there is a $200,000 contingency fund the port can dip into.
“We’re talking about estimated costs, and we won’t know [the actual cost] until we get bids in,” he said.
The bid opening is scheduled for Feb. 22, and the port is expected to award the contract March 13.
In-water construction would begin July 15, Hartman said. That’s the earliest point construction can start due to fish windows, he said.
Out-of-water construction could start as early as June, he said.
The plan is to construct a dolphin that would support three to four lines that could handle 125 metric tons.
Hartman said the 125-metric-ton capacity would be the best balance of cost for the port while still being able to handle the larger anticipated bulk cargo vessels.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News The Port of Port Angeles Terminal 3 “t-pier” sits empty awaiting the next cargo ship to take on logs.
