Bringing Stone Out to Jetty

As mentioned in the previous post, a roadway was built along the top of the Salisbury jetty from the beach out to about where the 1st navigational tower was located. This 4 minute video clip shows the large CAT excavator loading a multi-ton stone block into the bucket of the front end loader. The front end loader drives the block out to jetty where a second excavator is repairing the jetty.

Building a Ramp onto the Jetty

To begin work on the Salisbury jetty itself, the smaller excavator drove out during low tide to the short stone groin the juts out from the jetty. The excavator began to move the rocks around to form a rough ramp onto the jetty. After the ramp was completed, the excavator drove up the ramp to the top of the jetty near the first navigational aid tower. This tower was removed in the next couple of days. The excavator worked on the top of the jetty to create a serviceable road across the top of the jetty from the first tower to the beach. The roadway was built by shifting stones around, filling in gaps with beach sand, and the use of rubber mats made from cut up old tires. The video clip shows the excavator repositioning one of the rubber mats.

Excavator drives up to groin during low tide.

The ramp was built using stones form the groin. Three seagulls "supervise" the work.

The ramp begins to take shape.

Rubber mats made from old tires.

Arrival of the First Crane Barge

Three barges will be used during the repairs to the Salisbury jetty.Two barges will each have a crane on it and the third barge will ferry stone from the beach to the section of jetty being worked on. The first crane barge arrived on May 11 and I didn't get a chance to see it being brought up river. I photographed it the next day. It is "anchored" by three vertical metal posts driven into the sand. This crane barge will be used to move the stone blocks from the beach into a stone transport barge. The stone barge will ferry the stones to a second crane barge positioned along the jetty.

I had the opportunity to document the second crane barge being brought up the Merrimack River. Still photos and some videos of this event will be posted next week.

A couple of onlookers watch as the crane is started up.

Crane barge on the left, stone transport barge on the right.

One of two tug boats which will be used to move and reposition the barges.

Gangway used to access the barge from the construction site.

The blue piece of equipment is a grapple that will be sued to lift the stones.  There is a red grapple in the background.

Tugboat tied up to the stone transport barge.

Quarired Stone for the Salisbury Jetty

The stone being used for the jetty is high strength granite. The Army Corp has tested the stone to verify it can withstand the intense battering that sea throws at the Salisbury jetty during a rough storm. Many of the large granite blocks have visible drill holes. The drill holes are 4 inches in diameter and are closely spaced together in a line. They extend to the bottom of the granite block. Once all the holes are drilled, the walls between the holes are broken away mechanically or vaporized with a thermal torch. This separates the side of the granite block from bedrock. In the early 1900s this method was known as broach channeling but I not sure what the modern term is for it.

Granite block with drill marks on a flatbed awaiting removal.

8.36 ton granite block. A line of "half round" drill marks across the top.

Close-up of a series of closely spaced drilled holes.

4 inch diameter drill hole. A quarter for size reference.

Granite blocks stored on the beach.

Note: These photos were taken when access to the beach section of the construction site was still possible. It has since been fully fence off for safety reasons.

Video of the Excavator Re-arranging the Stones

A short video of the excavator moving the stones around on the beach. (Turn your device's sound on for a better video experience.)

Video - Excavator Unloading Stone Block

A short video of the CAT 390F excavator unloading a huge stone block off a flatbed truck at the Salisbury Beach State Reservation. (The video has sound. Turn on your speakers, it really adds to overall experience of the video clip. Click the control in bottom right corner for full screen mode.)

Trucking in the Stone

The Newburyport Daily News reported that 32,000 tons of stone will be trucked in from quarries in Rhode Island, Peabody, MA & Raymond NH to repair the jetty. The really large blocks are arriving two at a time on flatbed trucks. There is only a single road into Salisbury Beach State Reservation. The trucks have to get in line with beach goers and campers trying to get in as well.

Large quarried blocks arrived two at a time on flatbed trucks.

Waiting in line behind a camper at the Salisbury Beach State Reservation gatehouse.

Trucks pull into the section of the parking lot fenced off for the construction crew.

The trucks then make a U-turn so they can then back out onto the beach ramp.

Truck on beach access ramp.

 

Truck driver heading to remove the tie-down chains from the block.

"Open Wide!"

Coming back for the second block.

Quarried stone is stored on the beach.

Small Stone Delivery

The smaller stones weighing 1 to 3 tons each are being delivered to the jetty construction site by dump truck. Mixed into the load are some even smaller stone chunks. The excavator can move the 1 to 3 ton pieces with the claw. The really small pieces need to be picked up by the front end loader. The small 1 to 3 ton boulders will be used to repair an existing section of the jetty near the beach. Work has begun on that section. The heavier 8 to 19 ton stones will be used on sections of the jetty which take the brunt of the fierce northeaster winter storms and occasional hurricane.

Front end loaders gets an "assist" from the excavator.

Reinforcing the Fence Line

The remnants of the jetty that extended from concrete seawall across the beach to the main jetty was dismantled. Some of the stones were picked up by the excavator and moved to the chain link fence along the Merrimack River side beach to reinforce the fence.

Excavator has a single boulder in its claw. It is crawling its way up the  beach towards the fence.

Boulders placed on either side of the fence.

Returning for more stone.

Grabbing two stones at a time will get the job done faster!

Newburyport Daily News Article Link

The Newburyport Daily News posted a great aerial photo of the jetty work along with an informative article. Here is the link to the article http://www.newburyportnews.com

1st Delivery of Large Stones

Tuesday, May 5, saw the arrival of the first truck loads of huge multi-ton granite blocks for the jetty. The granite blocks arrived on flatbed trailers, two rocks per trailer. The weight of each stone was spray painted onto the side of it. The largest rocks ranged from 13 to 19 tons. The lift capacity of the big CAT 390F excavator is 19 tons. The stones were removed from the flatbeds and stored on a section of beach near the river. The photo sequences shows the delivery and handling of a multi-ton block. It is hard not to be impressed with the ease that the tractor moved the stone around it.