PROVINCETOWN — A 600-foot floating concrete structure is being installed in Provincetown harbor over the next two weeks. Each 60-foot segment is six feet tall and 15 feet wide, and weighs more than 20 tons. This height and heft will reflect and dissipate wave energy away from MacMillan Pier.
The attenuator will protect all four of the smaller piers that project from MacMillan’s east side, which are the berths for Provincetown’s commercial fishing fleet. The two floating finger piers that have been repeatedly damaged by winter storms will also be rebuilt as part of the project.
The overall cost of this undertaking is about $4.6 million. Provincetown is paying one-fourth, with the other three-fourths being paid by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
When it was rebuilt in the 1990s, MacMillan Pier was meant to have a wave attenuator, according to Rex McKinsey, Provincetown’s marine coordinator. It would have been a 15-foot-high wooden wall; neighbors objected strongly to its design. It was eventually stripped from that project and never built, which left the east side of MacMillan vulnerable to the strong winter storms that blow from the northeast.
Storms in 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2015 all did major damage to the two floating piers on MacMillan’s east side. The floating piers support 40 smaller commercial fishing vessels — nearly the entire Provincetown lobster fleet — as well as the dinghy dock, where locals and visitors tie up the small watercraft that allow access to boats in the mooring field.
The February 2013 storm was different. It was so severe and did so much damage that it qualified Barnstable County for FEMA disaster relief. The town developed a new floating concrete attenuator plan, applied for FEMA grants for both past damage repair and future damage prevention, and was selected by FEMA to receive a 75-percent matching grant.
The project is coming through just in time, according to McKinsey and Pier Manager Doug Boulanger; they agree that the floating piers would not survive another bad nor’easter.
Segments arrive by night
After nearly seven years of grant writing, permitting, and design work, the project is now being installed under the supervision of Pier Manager Boulanger. The enormous attenuator segments arrived by barge on the night of Oct. 15. The crane barges that lower them into the water arrived on Oct. 18 and began unloading the panels into the harbor on equally enormous moorings. Thirty-six-inch diameter pilings began being set into the harbor floor on Monday and should be fully in place by the week’s end, said Boulanger. Also on Monday, demolition of the south floating pier began.
During construction, the commercial fishing vessels that normally berth on that pier will tie up at the Provincetown Marina. By early November, those vessels should be able to berth on the new attenuator itself, which will be temporarily connected to the north floating pier (also known as the dinghy dock). The south floating pier should be fully rebuilt by the end of November, and demolition and reconstruction of the north floating pier will begin in December. The entire project should be near completion by the end of January 2020, according to Boulanger.
The completed attenuator will not be connected to any part of MacMillan Pier. Instead, it will float on its own in the harbor. According to Boulanger and McKinsey, it will not contain berthing space for any kind of vessel — at least not yet. The permitting and design for the project do allow the town to connect the north floating pier to the attenuator at its own expense. That would involve a 95-foot floating extension of the north floating pier that could support four extra berths for fishing vessels, McKinsey added.
Beyond that, no other use of the attenuator is permitted, both men confirmed, though the attenuator is designed to allow for potential future uses. It was engineered to allow electrical and running water hookups, and if the town so chose it could pursue additional uses.
“FEMA is here to fund an attenuator,” said Boulanger. “That’s what it is. We have to fully install it according to their parameters to close out the grants. Once that process is totally complete, the town is free to have a discussion about adding berthing capacity to the structure — what it would cost, who it would be for, how to pay for it.
“It’s possible the attenuator could offer enough sheltered space along its inner edge for 10 to 12 new berths, which could help us to expand the commercial fishing and shellfishing fleet,” continued Boulanger. “The outer edge of the attenuator isn’t sheltered, so it’s really not suitable for year-round vessels, but it could be good for transient fishing vessels coming in for a few days at a time from nearby ports.”
Asked by a reporter what other kinds of vessels might seek to use the attenuator for docking space, Boulanger said, “MacMillan is Provincetown’s commercial wharf. First and foremost we are a commercial fishing pier, as well as a transit gateway into town. We are not looking for the leisure yacht business. We are happy to have the Lagasses have that business at Provincetown Marina, and we are focused on commercial fishing, transit, and the excursion fleet.”
Docking at the attenuator would also be limited by the depth of the harbor. The harbor floor at the northern end of the attenuator is dredged to a depth of 7.5 feet below the extreme low-tide line. The south end of the attenuator will float 13 feet above the harbor floor at extreme low tide. Most fishing vessels have a four- to six-foot draft, according to McKinsey; the American Constitution cruise ship has a draft of 10 feet; while the Seabourn Quest cruise ship has a draft of 20 feet.
“Access to the attenuator would be through the north floating pier, which is both the dinghy dock and a working fishing pier full of equipment,” said Boulanger. “It’s not a place you’d want to see a line of passengers holding tickets. We’re trying to remain a commercial fishing pier.”
