PORT TOWNSEND — The replacement of the Port Hudson breakwater, which will take another three years, will disrupt marine life, including dens of octopuses, the port’s deputy director said.
But the port will do as little harm as possible, Jim Pivarnik said.
“This project will disrupt the sea life,” he said. “But we’ll do everything we can to protect as much as we can.”
The project, which could cost as much as $6 million, will replace the breakwater built in 1932 with a more durable structure meant to protect boats in the marina from wind and rain.
The project is currently in the permitting process.
Port officials plan to construct the new structure in two phases: replacing the north side from September 2017 to February 2018 and the southern section a year later.
During its 84-year life, the breakwater has become the home of a diverse selection of sea life.
Among the creatures that live there are giant Pacific octopuses, which are present in abundance, said Don Peterson, Octopus Gardens Diving owner.
“It’s a unique site,” Peterson said.
“The diving community, when they come here to dive at that particular location, they don’t look at it as just a dive site; they look at it like a park,” he said.
It has a wide reputation, he said.
In 1969, marine explorer Jacques Cousteau filmed at Point Hudson for a show about octopuses after a recommendation from a colleague.
Peterson said the site contains an old wreck and a series of areas that have become octopus dens.
Peterson said he trusts the port to take the marine wildlife into consideration as much as possible while acknowledging the unavoidable disruption.
“If they were to remove the habitat and not replace it, that would be a big mistake,” Peterson said.
Fish window
Construction on the breakwater can take place only between July 15 and Feb. 15 to avoid a “fish window,” a state-imposed prohibition in place to protect spawning salmon.
The whole project could be finished in seven months, but the construction window is narrowed by the summer recreation season and the Wooden Boat Festival on the second weekend of September, Pivarnik said.
The breakwater juts out on each side of the marina on the north and south side of the marina’s entrance.
Due to the narrow time frame, the construction will begin the day after the Wooden Boat Festival ends, Pivarnik said.
The new breakwater will have a different appearance than that in place now.
Instead of a continuous, uniformly sized rock wall, it will vary from a 2-foot width in some sections to 18 feet in others.
Widen channel
Pivarnik said one of the most welcome upgrades will be to widen the channel from 71 feet to 84 feet, eliminating the choke point that requires large boats to be towed in rather than come in under their own power.
The process of rebuilding will require the removal of all the rocks, the insertion of steel pilings and the return of the rocks to the points in between the pilings, Pivarnik said.
The new version will use the same amount of rocks but will be distributed differently, Pivarnik said.
He said the port has access to $1.3 million in grant money and would take out a revenue bond — which does not require voter approval — to finance the remainder.
The slow construction pace is unavoidable because of permitting, Pivarnik said.
He hopes the breakwater will stay in place until it is replaced but acknowledges that is not a sure thing.
“It’s been compromised for years,” he said.
“Enough high tides and 40 mph winds could take it out.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
