Triton Yacht Club -- Richardson Docks

Richardson Docks Update

March Update - - - - - - - - - -
Anticipating the replacement of the Richardson Marina docks, now most likely to happen in 2011, the officers of Triton Yacht Club in January formed a committee to respond to a Lane County Parks Department request for construction suggestions from the boating community.

Serving on the committee are Commodore Brandt Schram, Past Commodore Merry Petitclair, Dean Mitchell and Mike Thoele. The committee met once and then did e-mail brainstorming as a set of proposals was refined into finished form.

As part of the work, the entire marina was measured and sketched to provide baseline information as a foundation for such proposals as wider, longer finger piers, additional 10-foot slips and a few extra-long slips. Kevin Hansen, the skipper of Quadzilla and a recognized expert on sports for the disabled, made significant contributions with specs for some special slips that would meet marina standards established under the Americans With Disablities Act.

The full Triton proposal is below. Additional details on the parks department’s initial response are in the March issue of the Triton newsletter.

Richardson Dock Project
Suggestions from Triton Yacht Club -- Feb. 24, 2010

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

TIMING: Ideally, new dock units would be built and staged on shore early in the construction year, so that they could be floated into place in a March-April-May time frame, before the heart of the boating season.
SEQUENCING: The Parks Department’s idea of replacing each row of docks in sequence, with a temporary dock provided for boats displaced by the work, seems to be the best alternative.
SECURITY: Boaters will be concerned about security at the temporary dock. Some thought needs to be given to that issue. Perhaps a temporary gate?
NOTIFICATION: Assuming the docks are replaced in sequence, maximum advance notification should be provided to owners who will be required to move and re-moor their boats. Some owners live as far away as Salem and Roseburg. The notification process should be established and publicized when moorage permits are issued for the construction year.

LAUNCH RAMP

EXTENSION: We propose a concrete runout of 30 feet from the foot of the ramp. It need not be as steep as the main ramp itself. A gradual incline that follows the lake bottom would be sufficient. In the current configuration, power boaters who “motor” their boats onto trailers continually create a dangerous trailer-trapping washout at the foot of each ramp. Fern Ridge is attracting some larger boats with deeper drafts; a ramp extension would facilitate their safe launch and retrieval.

DOCK MATERIALS

PLASTIC VS. CONCRETE: We have positive feelings about engineered composite lumber as an improvement over wood. However, we would propose that floatable concrete also be considered. (The new docks at Eugene Yacht Club are concrete.)
PVC PILINGS: Concrete pilings cased or poured in PVC liners offer the smoothest, most boat-friendly surface.

DOCK SPECIFICATIONS

GATE RAMPS: For safety and ADA access, all five docks should have at their entrance aluminum foot-ramps and railings leading from the gate to the dock walkway, like the present installation on A Dock. (See special notes below on ADA slips.)
LONGER, WIDER: We propose that for safety and functionality, finger piers be made wider and longer. Noting that larger, longer boats are becoming more common on Fern Ridge, we also propose that a few extra-long slips be added by extending A Dock northward.

	Current	Proposed
8' slips	2' x 16'	3' x 18'
10' slips	2'6" x 20'	3'6" x 22'
10' slips		3'6" x 26' (extra-long slips)
(See special notes below on ADA slips.)

DOCK TRIANGLES: We propose that the stiffening triangles at the head of each slip be enlarged to accommodate dock boxes for boat owners who want to use them. The current right triangles are 2’ x 2’ x 2’ 10.” We propose triangles of 3’ x 3’ x 4’ 3.”
MOORING CLEATS: Should be through-bolted, not lag-bolted.
RUB RAILS: The type of rub rails currently installed on the courtesy dock would be ideal.

INCREASING THE NUMBER OF SLIPS

BACKGROUND: The current total of slips is 248, according to the Gooches. Typically, there is a waiting list for 10-foot slips and for the handful of 9-foot slips; some years there is a waiting list for 8-foot slips. Some analysis of the Gooches’ waiting-list figures over the past decade might help pin down the optimum number/size of new slips to be created.
There are approximately 120 slips at 10 feet and 9 feet, and approximately 128 slips at 8 feet. B Dock is significantly longer than the other four docks.
The “alley” between D and E Docks is far narrower than any of the others. Historically, this created access problems and led to minor boat collisions. Several years ago, the east-side finger piers on E dock were removed to widen the alley, at a cost of 30 slips.

8’ SLIPS: We propose moving the gate of E Dock about 25 feet westward and moving the docks a corresponding amount. This would widen the alley and create room to restore the 30 lost 8-foot slips. There is sufficient distance and depth west of E dock to permit this change. It would provide slips to meet future demand.
MORE 8’ SLIPS: If there is interest in creating still more 8-foot slips for future capacity, C Dock, D Dock or E Dock could be extended to a length matching B Dock.
10’ SLIPS: To provide more 10-foot slips, we propose extending A Dock to match the length of B dock.
LONGER 10’ SLIPS: As noted above, we recommend the addition of a few — perhaps a half-dozen — 10-foot slips with longer 26-foot finger piers. The ideal location for those slips would be at the end of a lengthened A Dock, on the east side.
MORE 10’ SLIPS: If analysis of the Gooches’ figures show a need for still more 10-foot slips for future capacity, C Dock could be extended to a length matching B Dock, with 10-foot slips tacked onto the end of the existing row of 8-foot slips.

ADA-COMPLIANT FACILITIES.

NUMBER OF ADA SLIPS: The ADA standards suggest six ADA slips for a marina the size of Richardson. We propose eight — four at 10 feet and four at eight feet. (They can always be rented to other boaters if the number of disabled boaters is fewer than eight.)
LOCATION: We propose achieving eight ADA slips by putting four of them (a pair each) on the outer ends of A Dock and B Dock (10 feet wide), and four of them (a pair each) on the outer ends of C Dock and D Dock (8 feet wide). In each case the slips would be facing pairs, one on each side of the walkway.
ADA FINGER PIERS: Each of the ADA slips should be flanked on both sides by 5-foot finger piers with 4” x 4” safety curbs (similar to the courtesy dock). The piers should have sufficient flotation and stability to safely carry more than 800 pounds — a disabled sailor of 200 lbs. or more, two assistants of the same size and a power wheelchair of up to 250 pounds. (We believe that these wider, more buoyant finger piers at the ends of the docks would have a positive effect on the overall stability of the dock, while providing more secure moorage for the larger boats and trimarans that typically moor at the outside ends of the docks.)
TRANSITION PLATES: The aluminum access ramps mentioned above should have gently-sloped transition plates to help wheelchairs safely transit over the 4 to 6-inch drop between the end of the ramp and the planks of the wooden walkway. The plates should be at least 6 inches longer than the current transition plate on A dock.
LIFTING HOIST: We propose a community lifting hoist, manual or electric, on the courtesy dock. The hoist would assist in moving severely disabled persons onto boats at the dock. (Kevin Hansen would be happy to provide details.)

COURTESY DOCK

ELECTRICITY: Two or three dockside electric receptacles installed in conjunction with the new pumpout station project this summer would be a significant improvement. And it’s important that the freshwater hose outlet be preserved.

DRY STORAGE FOR SMALL BOATS?

We are not certain it would fall within the scope of the dock replacement project, but there is a huge need for “dry storage” of small “daysailer” sailboats. Such sailboats are trailered in each time the owner wants to sail. Every outing comes with the labor of rigging and unrigging the boat, as much as several dozen times a season. A secure dry land storage area — a place where small boats could be parked with their masts still up — was in the county’s original Fern Ridge master plan but has never been implemented.

January Update - - - - - - - - - -
They’re coming, but when?

The good news is that Lane County’s plan to replace the decrepit docks at Richardson Marina is still on. The vague news is when the million-dollar project will happen.

One thing’s certain: When the new docks come, they won’t be a winter project done when Fern Ridge Lake is at low pool, as Lane County parks officials had expected and hoped as recently as last year. Instead, the work will happen in the middle of a sailing season.

Phil Guyette, Lane County’s parks superintendent, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the lake, has ruled that it’s environmentally unacceptable to have construction equipment navigating the lake floor when Fern Ridge is drained. That means that the dock replacement job must be done during the summer sailing season, with units built on shore and floated into place.

“We had hoped we’d be able to do it as a winter project,” Guyette said. “But the Corps has had changes on what they’re willing to allow on the lake bed.”

Most likely, the work would be done in stages, replacing one string of docks at a time, Guyette said, so that the entire Richardson fleet would not be displaced at once. One possibility, he said, is that sections of existing dock might be temporarily relocated and anchored in place, so that they could be used while replacements were being installed.

“In a perfect world,” Guyette said, “you could think about shutting Richardson down for a summer to do the work. But that’s not going to happen. We know the sailors would tar and feather us. So we’re going to have to work with contractors to figure out a way to do it in stages during the boating season."

“We are really wanting to hear from sailors about what they think would be the least disruptive way to accomplish that.” But when will it happen?

"Though there’s still a slim chance of a 2010 project," Guyette said, "It’s far more likely that the job will come in 2011, or even later."

The timing is out of the park department’s hands. Instead, it depends in large measure on the county’s legal and finance departments, which must sell construction bonds to finance the job. The working estimate for the job is a million dollars. The figure is an inflation-adjusted projection based on an engineering study commissioned by the county several years ago.

At one point, Lane County had the Richardson docks wrapped into a set of bond measures to be issued in 2009. That would probably have guaranteed the project would happen this year. But the aggregate total for the various county projects wrapped into the financing began bumping up against a $30 million annual ceiling, so the Richardson project was pulled.

Now, said the county’s Acting Finance Director Mike Barnhart, the docks are being considered for a new package of county bond measures to be issued this year. It’s conceivable but probably not likely that the bond package would be stitched together in time for construction to happen this summer, Barnhart said.

“We’re aware that the marina is in disrepair and that some slips have even been closed for safety reasons,” Barnhart said. “So we definitely want to move ahead.”

The construction financing for the Richardson project will be based on revenue bonds. The bonds — borrowed money — will be repaid with revenue from annual slip rental fees, Barnhart said.

In the current economy, with bank credit tight and investors cautious, selling bonds at a favorable interest rate is not an easy task. On the other hand, county officials said, if the bonds were sold soon, it’s likely that very favorable construction bids would come from contractors who have been scrabbling for work in the current recession.

“Things are better than a year ago, “Barnhart said as he reviewed the bond market. “But it’s still challenging.”

So what would a new set of docks look like?

Guyette said they’d most likely be constructed from new long-lived synthetic deck materials. The new docks, like the present ones, would be single slips rather than the doubles found at Orchard Point. The current steel pilings probably would remain in place. But any wood pilings would be replaced because their remaining life would be far shorter than the new docks, he said.

The project is likely to increase the number of slips from the current 248, although Guyette said the exact number will depend on final construction drawings.

Beyond the number of slips, Guyette said he want to be sure the county gets the best possible docks for the money it’s investing. He said that he’s aware of the need for slips that are longer and, in some cases, wider.

“Before we get committed to a design, I am really wanting to hear from some people in the sailing community,” he said. “The people who park boats at Richardson probably have some really good ideas. We’d like to get those ideas into the design process. A lot of times it doesn’t cost any more to do it the way the users would prefer.”

Guyette said he would welcome the opportunity to involve a committee of moorage holders in the pre-construction discussion.

Regardless of the timetable for the dock replacement, one Richardson project is likely to come off this summer. Guyette said the county is expecting a State Marine Board grant to finance a new wastewater pumpout station at the Richardson courtesy dock this year.

Comments via email to Guyette.

Download the January Newsletter containing this article.