Excavation started today on a $1.3-million project to reshape
and restore Harper Estuary in South Kitsap.
Heavy equipment begins work
today to build access roads for the Harper Estuary restoration
project.
Photo: Doris Small, WDFW
It is a project that I’ve been discussing since 2001, when
former Harper resident Chuck Hower first introduced me to the idea,
a concept that he had been promoting with state and federal
officials. (See
Kitsap Sun, Feb. 2, 2001.)
Orion Marine Contractors was the successful bidder among six
companies that offered bids on the project to remove much of the
fill material placed in and around the estuary. The amount of soil
to be removed is estimated at more than 15,000 cubic yards, or
enough to fill roughly 1,000 dump trucks.
“The work will restore (the estuary) to levels conducive to
marsh establishment,” said Doris Small of the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife. The project will recover a spit, reconnect
saltwater to an impounded wetland and remove a bulkhead and old
“relic” road that impounds the wetland, she said.
A new Harper Estuary bridge is
being planned with a trail to the water. // Graphic: Kitsap
County Public Works
The Harper Estuary restoration project is finally coming
together, with one contractor being hired for culvert removal,
others bidding for the excavation work and engineers completing the
designs for a new bridge.
Since June, the first phase of the project has been divided into
two parts. The first actual construction will involve the
replacement of a 24-inch culvert that carries Harper Creek under
Southworth Drive. The new structure will be a three-sided,
open-bottom culvert that spans 16 feet across the stream.
A larger culvert will carry
Harper Creek under Southworth Drive. (Click to enlarge.)
Graphic: Kitsap County Public Works
Bids were opened, and a contractor has been preliminarily
selected, said Doris Small, project coordinator for the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife. A meeting has been scheduled for
Tuesday to iron out the final details and award the contract, she
said.
The work must be completed by Oct. 15, so things will progress
rapidly, she said. An announcement will be made soon regarding a
temporary detour on Southworth Drive.
The remainder of the first phase involves the excavation of dirt
and other debris used to fill in the estuary years ago. The project
has been reduced slightly in size from the original design,
reducing water contact in certain spots, Doris told me. Also, an
analysis of the soils to be removed concluded that some of the fill
material is contaminated at such a low level that it can be used as
fill elsewhere or sent to a composting facility.
Olympiad Drive crosses Harper
Estuary.
Photo: Kitsap County Public Works
Bids will be taken on the excavation project until Sept. 13, and
the work must be done before the middle of February.
The design of a new 120-foot-long bridge on Olympiad Drive is
between 60 and 90 percent complete. Applications have been
submitted for several grants to complete the project, primarily
construction of the new bridge. The bridge will replace a 36-inch
culvert where the road crosses the estuary. The design includes
access for people to walk down to the water, and it can be used to
launch small hand-carried boats.
As I described in
Water Ways in June, the existing makeshift boat launch must be
removed to allow the restored estuary to function properly. I am
told, however, that county officials are still looking for a nearby
site to build a new boat launch with access for trailered
boats.
If grants are approved to cover the cost, the bridge could be
under construction next summer, Doris said. The total estimated
cost of the entire restoration is now $7 million, with $4.1 million
approved from a mitigation fund related to contamination from the
Asarco smelter in Tacoma.
