Friday, April 25, 2014

Port of Redwood City Dedicates
$17 Million Wharf

By Mark Edward Nero

A state-of-the-art, $17 million wharf was dedicated and opened by the Port of Redwood City during an April 23 ceremony.

According to the port, the wharf is the first new wharf for cargo ships in the San Francisco Bay Area that meets the latest operational, seismic, and sea level design standards for the wharf structure itself and adjacent shoreline.

The modernized wharf replaced a 60-year old World War II era wooden wharf with a new bulk handling concrete wharf that was designed to meet the present demands for operational and seismic conditions and climate change issues.

Construction began in September 2012 with the demolition of the old wooden wharves and the adjacent warehouse. A 950-foot long seawall designed to meet storm surges and predicted sea level rise was built along the shore of the port, adjacent to the modernized wharf. Additional project improvements include a new 2,100 square-foot longshoreman’s building, upgraded water/electrical utilities, new seismic monitoring equipment, new security fencing and gates, exterior lighting and a parking area.

The wharf, which is connected to the shore by 33-foot-wide concrete ramps, is expected to be used to dock Panamax-sized dry bulk ships.

The new wharf is situated between a Cemex cement marine terminal and a Sims Metals scrap iron terminal. The new portion is about 430 feet long and 60 feet wide, with the two access ramps located at the north and south edges of the wharf.

The project was financed by a $10 million 2012 bond and port capital project reserves, which the port says had been set aside for years in planning for construction of the new wharf.