While the Lubec Safe Harbor breakwater project is expected to go back out to bid next month, after initial bids were too high, questions have arisen about how long the project has taken and how much the anticipated cost has increased.
The project had been put forward nearly 10 years ago, and the estimated costs have more than doubled in the past seven years.
Funding now available for the project totals $46.7 million, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. In November 2019, $19.65 million had been awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, then an additional $10 million was secured in February 2023.
Now federal funding amounts to $44.65 million, after the Maritime Administration grant agreement was updated on Feb. 2 of this year, with the remainder of the funding being provided by the Maine Department of Transportation and no funds coming from the town, according to Aurele Gorneau, project manager for the department.
In comparison, the Eastport breakwater was rebuilt and expanded, after a portion of it collapsed in 2014, in just over two years for $15 million, with the Eastport Port Authority contributing $2 million toward the cost. The breakwater had been built 65 years ago, in 1962, and was celebrated as the million-dollar pier.
Now, the Maine Department of Transportation is building a breakwater that, unlike the Eastport breakwater, will not have floats for berthing of fishing boats, a road on top or hoists for fishermen and that is projected to cost over $45 million.
Concerning the cost increases, the Maine Department of Transportation points out that construction prices have increased significantly since 2019, when funding for the Safe Harbor project was first awarded, due to inflation and higher prices for materials, fuel and labor.
Andrew Gobeil, director of public information for the department, said that, as it advanced the project, “additional engineering and geotechnical analysis also helped refine the design to ensure the project can be built safely and effectively at this location.”
Gorneau said the project will be rebid in April, and construction could begin by June or July. Construction is expected to take two years.
“It’s not an easy straightforward project,” Gorneau said, explaining why the planning has taken so long. “The site and weather conditions have to be considered in the design. There are a lot of variables. The wind direction, water depths, storm surges all have to be taken into account.”
Gobeil said, “Projects of this scale require detailed engineering, environmental review and coordination with federal partners. Over the past several years the design has been refined and additional funding secured so the project can move forward with a constructible and financially viable plan.”
Despite the increase in the cost and the lengthy time taken to get the project started, no one seems to doubt that it is needed.
Russell Wright, who is now the shellfish warden for Lubec after retiring as a sergeant in the Maine Marine Patrol, said, “There’s definitely a need for it, for the fishing fleet to have a safe harbor for boats.”
He said that, when the boats are on unprotected moorings, fishermen face many risks, from going out in skiffs to reach their boats or a mooring line breaking, especially during storms in the winter.
“Hopefully, they can build a safe harbor for getting to and from the boats. That’s what they need in this area,” Wright said.
Research done by Trescott resident Julie Keene, who had been the Safe Harbor committee chair, indicates that four deaths could have been prevented had a breakwater such as the one envisioned been available. That number does not include deaths that happen on boats at sea. The four were all lost while attempting to come ashore typically on a skiff during foul weather.
Project taken over by state
The first public airing of the Safe Harbor project was in September 2017, when Lubec voters, at a special town meeting, approved the town’s purchase of waterfront land behind the Lubec Historical Society building. It was hoped at the time that the project could be completed in 2023.
The town then had advertised for bids in 2021 when $19.65 million was available. The two bidders, though, came in high, with Prock Marine bidding $24.3 million while reducing the scope of work and Sargent Corp. bidding $41.3 million. With not enough funding available, neither of those bids was accepted. Following that bid process, the Maine Department of Transportation then took over management of the project from the town.
Gorneau believes there is now sufficient funding for the project, following its redesign. Among the parts of the plan that have been eliminated in order to reduce the cost are a two-way road on the top of the breakwater and two hoists to allow fishermen to get their product to market safely and quickly. That decision was made after the town had advertised for bids in 2021.
The plan still calls for a boat ramp, floats to accommodate a Maine Marine Patrol vessel so it can be available 12 months out of the year, a parking lot with space to park trailers for skiffs and lights.
According to Gobeil of the Maine Department of Transportation, the current design “allows for the possibility of additional features in the future if funding and operational needs support them.”
The 650-foot breakwater extending out into Johnson’s Bay will be constructed out of rock riprap and will provide a sheltered area where mariners can launch and moor boats. The breakwater will provide protection for boats that are moored, with the number of mooring spaces to be determined by the harbormaster.
Area fishermen have backed the project, as it is intended to provide a refuge from damaging storms. Design details initially had been worked out by the ad‑hoc Safe Harbor committee assigned the task.
