Bristol town upgrades harbour

USA: Further to a five-year planning process, the town of Bristol on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island has completed a large-scale harbour expansion project. The centrepiece of the work is an SF Marina floating concrete breakwater and pontoon system.

After removing Bristol Harbor’s aging fixed wave fence, local company Reagan Marine Construction installed 12 SF500 Series (5.2m/17ft wide) floating breakwater pontoons. These are virtually unsinkable, exceptionally stable and are coupled in a way that absorbs and distributes stress loads. The pontoons are anchored using 48 16-strand Seaflex mooring hawsers.
“The breakwater works great,” said harbour master Gregg Marsili. “Not only does it protect the marina, but also the shoreline, our other marina at Rockwell Park, the fuel pier on State Street and the Prudence Island ferry dock.”
The 790ft (240m) long structure includes an interior dock array for a total of 34 tapered fingers. Bristol Harbor has 22 transient slips for boats up to 39ft (12m) in length and an additional 499ft (152m) of dock space for vessels up to 197ft (60m).