Restoration Authority Awards $2.3 million for Terminal Four Wharf Removal Project in Richmond
June 30, 2023 - Today, the Governing Board of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority awarded $2.3 million to the City of Richmond for final design, implementation, and monitoring of the Terminal Four Wharf Removal Project near Point San Pablo, Contra Costa County.
This funding augments a previous grant of $2.3 million authorized by the Authority for this project in 2021. The augmentation will allow for full implementation of the project; without the augmentation the project would need to be revised to eliminate or reduce the size of some project components.
The project is needed because the deteriorating warehouse, piles, decking, and debris of the Terminal Four Wharf currently pose a marine debris problem and a navigation hazard, and also continue to degrade and impair water and habitat quality. The existing debris and pile field inhibit the expansion of nearby eelgrass beds. When Pacific herring and other fish and marine invertebrates spawn on creosote-treated piles, exposure to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are part of the creosote compound, results in adverse effects. In Pacific herring, these effects include developmental delays, degeneration, changes in movement, alterations to cardiac function in embryos, lower rate of hatching success, and skeletal defects in larvae.
The project consists of demolishing the decking, warehouse and dockmasters office, and all pilings; and sorting and safely disposing of the resulting material. In addition, the project includes constructing a 350-foot portion of rock slope protection that incorporates “living shoreline” habitat elements such as native plantings at the crown, cobbles with native seaweeds embedded into the face of the rock slope, and oyster reef elements incorporated into the toe of the rock slope; and it includes post-project monitoring of the eelgrass bed and the enhanced rock slope protection.
Progress made on the project since June 2021 includes completion of the final design plans and specifications, hazardous material surveys and updated site aerial photography, bathymetry, and eelgrass mapping; preparation of bid set drawings and final specifications, bid package release, and proposal reviews; and selection of a contractor approved by City of Richmond on May 2, 2023.
