Reconstruction Of Green Pond Ramp An Exercise In Frustration

     It was an exercise in frustration for workers trying to construct the new Green Pond boat ramp this week, as the men struggled to create a level span for the ramp, while murky water made visibility of the pond bottom all but nonexistent.
     At the end of the day Wednesday, after hours of working to level the pond floor, workers lowered one section of the ramp—a 22,000-pound concrete slab—into the water. But first thing yesterday, they took the piece out again, after seeing that the slab was not level.
     Several of the workers and onlookers blamed the Falmouth Conservation Commission for the problems, noting the order of conditions for the project did not allow a “coffer dam,” similar to what was used at Falmouth Inner Harbor, to pump water out of the space where the ramp is being built during construction.
     But Falmouth Harbor Master Gregg P. Fraser said he checked with Falmouth Conservation Administrator Jennifer L. McKay Wednesday and found out it was actually the state Public Access Board, which is the applicant for the project, that chose not to request use of the coffer dam, a more expensive construction method.
     The state agency submitted plans without a coffer dam, and the conservation commission in its decision allowed the agency to return with a plan that included the coffer dam, if it chose to do so, Mr. Fraser said.
     He noted how difficult it was doing the job without removing water from the site. “The divers are basically feeling their way,” he said.
     As to earlier delays in the project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in the spring, Mr. Fraser said one problem arose when getting the pilings, which are made of special wood that is in short supply. Another problem, he said, was that the subcontractor repairing the bulkhead had several delays and was eventually replaced.
     Falmouth Assistant Harbor Master Robert W. Griffin Jr. said when he visited the site yesterday morning, the men were removing the slab they placed in the water the night before. He estimated the coffer dam would have cost the state an additional $90,000.
     “They are still struggling to put the concrete sides on,” Mr. Griffin said yesterday afternoon.
      The entire cost of the Green Pond boat ramp project, $477,000, is being paid for by the state, which is being reimbursed for 75 percent of the cost by the federal government.
     Among the workers on the project were staff from UEL of Fitchburg, which is the general contractor; Douglas Cameron the assistant director of fishing and boating on the state Public Access Board; David P. Fuccillo of DP Fuccillo Inc., which fashioned the concrete slabs; Jonathan T. O’Neill of Winkler Crane in Truro, which supplied the 90-ton crane; Thomas M. Doyle, owner of Cape Marine Contractors, which constructed the bulkhead; and Forrest A. Ferrill, and his sons, of Frogmen Divers of Sandwich.
     Mr. Fuccillo of Pinecrest Beach Drive, East Falmouth, said the job is a challenging one, because of all the work that has to be done adjusting the grades and pitches underwater.
     In order to get the grade, workers relied on a $3,000 survey instrument equipped with a laser that was set on a tripod near the ramp site.
     Mr. Fuccillo also noted the delays, including getting the shipment of the sheathing that lines the bulkhead and getting the right pilings, which came from South America.
     William Palm of Wings Neck, Bourne, a deputy harbor master on the Falmouth staff, said a new ramp has been needed for some time. He explained that the original ramp created a “dangerous situation,” because there was a big drop at the end.
     “The old ramp was a disaster,” he said, adding that the wood was so slippery that people often fell and hurt themselves. “That wood was like putting dancing wax on ice,” he said.
     He pointed to an old rotted piling off to the side of the ramp as an example of the urgent need for new pilings, which are made with a steel rod. “There’s a lot of strength built into this,” he said of the new ramp.
     Other improvements include a handicapped ramp and catch basins for oil runoff. “The quahogs will like that,” Mr. Palm said of shellfish that rely on clean water as habitat.
     Mr. Palm said setting up for the project was a major operation as electricity in the area had to be turned off in order to get the 140-foot crane in place. A generator was rented and installed to power the town’s shellfish propagation tank that sits at the end of the Green Pond town dock. Also, a temporary rerouted water system had to be installed for people using rental slips and moorings.
     Because of the long construction process, some of the crew has lived in a rental house in the neighborhood, Mr. Palm said.
     William Curley of Sudbury, whose family has a summer home nearby on Green Harbor Road, watched the project with interest, since he is himself a contractor. He said not using a coffer dam will result in an inferior product for the town, because laying the concrete will be done in sections instead of a continuous pour. “It will be subject to movement,” he said.
     The construction project has resulted in the ramp being shut down this summer, and Mr. Curley said the ramp has been greatly missed.
     Maurice J. Ronayne of Central Avenue, East Falmouth, said he uses the Green Pond ramp to launch his boat and is familiar with the old ramp’s flaws. “You got your wheels on the down side of it, it was almost impossible to get out,” he said of the drop at the end of the ramp.
     Among those with criticisms of the ramp process Wednesday were Joseph A. Netto III of Clark Street, East Falmouth, who arrived at the Green Pond dock Wednesday afternoon to take a dingy to his boat to go fishing.
     Mr. Netto said the plans for the double-wide ramp are an example of government waste, comparing it to the Falmouth High School renovation and, even, the Big Dig project to bury the central artery expressway in Boston. “All you needed was to fix the ramp,” he said, adding that he has been using the area for access to the water his whole life.
     “There are design flaws that, as a boater, they don’t make sense,” he said, pointing to metal loops on the piers that could ding a boat’s exterior and a handicapped ramp that ends with a drop of several inches, as well as granite curbing in the parking lot that will be a hazard to those maneuvering a trailer.
     He also criticized the fact that the ramp project eliminates parking spaces for people who have moorings.
     But Mr. Griffin, the assistant harbor master, said the parking lot will contain approximately the same number of spaces, with one side reserved for trailers and the other reserved for cars and trucks, for owners of moorings or anyone else who needs to access the water.
     He also said the curbing that has been installed can be adjusted if it proves to be problematic. He said some curbing was eliminated or moved in the Falmouth Inner Harbor parking lot as officials saw what worked and what did not work once the lot opened.
     “That’s the type of thing that can be adjusted. That’s not a real problem,” Mr. Griffin said.