A structural engineering assessment of Market Wharf and Market Square has revealed that two sections of the wharf must be repaired urgently.
Fundy Engineering was contracted by the town to undertake the work following the rejection of an overpriced tender, which would have seen structural improvements to the inner approach and an expansion of Market Square using infill and armour stone.
“Near the mud line, the piles are in very poor condition,” said Gordon Mouland. “I didn’t expect it, and these need immediate structural repairs.”
Mouland said it is something council needs to undertake this year.
He added that the section of the wharf adjacent to the Day Adventure gangway is also an area of concern.
“We’re recommending that we limit traffic in that area,” he said. “Those piles are severely compromised in the steel area, which means that they don’t have the same capacity that they originally had.”
Higher up, he said, those piles are in poor condition but could wait until the second year for repairs using standard grout-filled fibre glass wrap jackets.
Maintenance is required in piles in varying locations along the approach road. Some hardware has failed in the piles causing stability issues.
Mouland explained the concrete deck at the wharf inner approach would be done after repairs to the foundation and trestles are completed. Fundy Engineering’s John McKelvey said the goal would be to do this work during a time with the least amount of impact to the tourism season—a significant economic driver in Saint Andrews.
“The work of the foundation can all be done at sea level during peak tidal times. When it gets a phase of re-decking the wharf you can look at doing that in phases or a time when limiting access to the wharf is needed,” McKelvey said.
Foundation work is recommended to be completed in the first phase of the project, with the concrete work to follow.
The top two metres of the Day Adventure seawall are in poor condition, but Mouland said it isn’t as bad as others and could wait a few years before needing repairs.
On the Market Square side, the bottom cribbing is failing, Mouland said.
“The ends of the timber are rotten,” he said, adding the tie-back timbers that hold the wharf in place are not in imminent danger of failure, but should be considered.
Coun. Lee Heenan said the safety of the public using the wharf is paramount in any decision about how to move forward.
Mouland said there are parts of Market Square that have sunk due to water slowly removing soil from underneath. He said the question is whether the council wants to continue with brick or use another material.
“Bricks are normally meant for buildings, not for ground surfaces,” he said. “But they don’t have the same type of freestyle resistance that concrete pavers have. Concrete pavers would have a lot more longevity and wouldn’t settle as much if the underpinnings were done and designed properly.”
Fundy Engineering offered the council three options to consider on the inner approach and Market Square area. Those options, according to town staff, will need to be drawn out architecturally to have a better understanding of what the options look like.
Two of the options would expand the footprint of Market Square, but the third one does not.
Coun. Steve Neil, who spoke against the original design, said this engineering firm took the opposite approach to infill.
“What really stood out to me, within the three options, as opposed to what we were working with before, [was] the level of infill was related to the price — in the sense that the more we infilled, the lower the cost was,” he said. “Whereas the approach you guys have where the inner approach doesn’t really change within all three options so it is actually the opposite. As we reduce the infill it actually gets cheaper for us.”
He said the boat ramp would have been removed under the old design, and would remain regardless of which option the council chose.
McKelvey said there were conversations around the aesthetic side of the project.
“It’s a wharf, we don’t want to create it into a breakwater,” he said.
The firm also outlined the phased cost as part of its report. For year one, repairs to the pile jackets at the head of the wharf are estimated at $1.18 million. The inner approach trestle replacement is at $872,000.
In year two, the project would continue with repairs to the head of the wharf, the inner approach, Market Square, the outer approach road, and the Day Adventure Sea Wall.
Market Square’s alignment depends on the option chosen, but ranges from $614,000 to $1.36 million.
The third year continues the work on the upper portion of the Day Adventure seawall and the outer approach road. Years four and five mainly focus on the outer approach, guide piles, fire water line and services, pile jackets, cross braces and whalers, and dinghy floats.
Council has accepted the report by Fundy Engineering and could set a date to bring the options forward to the public in the coming months.
