Quinte West council will have to deal with costly upgrades at its Trent Port Marina.
Two of the three breakwaters at the marina have been seriously damaged by waves and ice
since they were installed in 2015 and likely all three will have to be replaced.
since they were installed in 2015 and likely all three will have to be replaced.
Breakwaters protect the docks and boats from high waves, heavy currents, and ice.
The current breakwaters float around the docks and are made of a core of polystyrene surrounded in concrete casing and Mayor Jim Harrison believes the city has to try something else.
” … and the cement cracked and deteriorated and now the styrofoam is in the Bay of Quinte so do we want to go through that again? No we don’t.”
Despite a staff recommendation to go with steel breakwaters a council committee is recommending staff produce a report on installing stone breakwaters, which are easy to fix and last a lifetime.
However, stone breakwaters are the most expensive, around $9 million compared to steel and polystyrene’s price tag of $5.5 million. Senior government approvals will be needed if stone is to be used.