trench-022013The final 32 piles east of the rail bridge have been placed below the Ordinary High Water mark at the trench project site. The only remaining activity of this section is the impact driving to refusal, which is expected to be complete within the next month. The entire project is more than 90 percent complete and on schedule for completion by the end of March.

Acoustic monitoring began on the project with a kickoff meeting last Wednesday, January 30 and the water monitoring took place the following Thursday and Friday. Hamilton Construction, the port’s project consultant was able to monitor the vibratory installation of five piles by noon on Friday. This operation continued last week, with the same section of piles installed by the same type of method. When all data is collected, the information will be provided to permitting agencies and may be useful in selecting installation methods in the future.