Nahant hoping to put out bid for town wharf rehab project

NAHANT – The town wharf could be rebuilt before the start of the 2009 boating season, according to town officials.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said he wants to put the town wharf rehabilitation project out to bid next month.In April, Town Meeting approved using Community Preservation Act funds for the project, which is expected to cost approximately $600,000.Cullinan said Childs Engineering Corporation conducted a complete assessment of the town pier, including using scuba divers for underwater inspection, and, according to the report, the pier needs to be rebuilt due to degradation of the underlying supports.Cullinan said rebuilding the wharf means taking the entire wharf down with the exception of the pilings.”Once the project is started the work itself will go pretty quickly,” he said, adding the most time consuming part of the project would be the acquisition of the steel for the project. “The lead time for the steel is what will take time. “It will probably take a month or so to get steel for the beams that will support the decking and building.”Cullinan said rebuilding the wharf itself is expected to cost approximately $400,000 and he expects it would cost an additional $200,000 to replace the building on the wharf, which houses the harbormaster office and town sailing program offices.At Town Meeting in April, Cullinan said the CPA fund has approximately $200,000 in it, but the CPA allows communities to borrow money for projects and pay it back with CPA proceeds in future years.Cullinan said he hopes to put the project out to bid next month and he would like to have contracts signed by October.”We’d like the work to begin in the early spring,” he said. “That way it won’t affect next year’s boating season.”