Beaufort waterfront park facing multi-million dollar repair

BEAUFORT, S.C. (WSAV) — The Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in Beaufort is considered the crown jewel of the city, but what’s going on underneath the park could cost the city millions upon millions of dollars just to keep that jewel shining.

Chambers Park was built in 1975, close to the end of the usual life span for a project of its kind. Recent inspections showed it isn’t in great shape, but not the pavilion or the park itself, but underneath the park.

“Should we be concerned that it’s going to fall in the water?” Beaufort City Manager, Scott Marshall said. “And the answer is no. There’s no expectation of catastrophic failure at once.”

The seawall and park itself are floating on 570 pilings, which are the stilt like structure that hold structures up and out of the water. A 2019 inspection by divers showed 47 of those pilings were considered to have structural integrity issues, or “failing.”

“It’s a deterioration of the concrete or some obvious oxidation or protrusion of the rebar that supports the concrete structure itself,” Marshall said.

A recent inspection showed more deterioration in some spots. In some cases, the 18-inch pilings, which were once square, were down to 12 inches around in a circle.

It’s gotten so bad that even American Cruise Lines which had been docking here, bringing its hundreds of passengers with it, has been told to stay away for now.

Yet, it’s what the city can’t see in this year’s inspection that is more troubling.

“Given the fact that we have 570 piles underneath this structure, and we can now only see 227 of them because shoaling is occurring and we can’t even inspect the majority of the piles,” Marshall said. “That’s a concern that I feel like we need to address. The shoaling is not going to get better. That’s going to continue over time. And so, I think we need a long-term solution.”

That long term solution will be costly.

On June 11, 2024, during a City Council Work Session, McSweeney Engineers presented an evaluation report following a periodic assessment of the park’s relieving platform. The report contained several recommendations based on the conditions of the structure discovered during the assessment and to help guide efforts toward pursuing these recommendations, the city is seeking the services of a qualified professional.

A request for qualifications has gone out for marine engineers to look at the project, and fix what’s under the park.

Marshall said he doesn’t have that expertise but believes the final cost could be as much as $100 million, which is more than double the city’s annual budget.

The cruise line has said it may step up to help since Beaufort is one of the only places the boat can dock and let off passengers without other transportation needed. Marshall said he is also counting on state and federal leaders to their part as well.

“Don’t think you can overstate the significance of this park to not only the local economy, but the state economy as well,” said Marshall. “And for all of those reasons, I think that there will be a lot of assistance with whatever the long-term solution might be for this park.”

Marshall said the city has been spending on small fixes over the years on Chambers Park, even pending more than $8 million in renovations in 2005 alone.

The McSweeney report also recommends increased inspections, studying and securing funding to begin replacement of the structure itself.

The engineering request for a quote (RFQ) is still open through Sept. 6, a deadline that was delayed by Tropical Storm Debby.

The RFQ requirements include:

• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience engineering complex civil, structural, marine, coastal and waterfront type projects, preferably in the Southeast.
• Previous experience with projects of similar scope, complexity and magnitude to that of the relieving platform.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience working with local, state and federal permitting requirements and processes associated with marine, coastal and waterfront projects.
• Demonstrated knowledge of available grant and other funding sources.
• Demonstrated knowledge of local marine conditions associated with coastal saltwater estuaries and impacts associated with forecasted sea-level rise.
• Demonstrated experience working on complex projects that involve local, state, and federal purchasing, procurement and contracting procedures.

For more details and instructions on how to submit a proposal, the Solicitations from City of Beaufort website has more information.

Once they choose a firm, the city will start doing the investigation on exactly what needs to be done underneath the surface and how much that will cost. Right now, there’s no timetable for any of those things to happen.