Work to start on Bangor dock

BANGOR – Now that materials are trickling in, construction for the ferry landing and heavy vessel dock on the Bangor Waterfront is scheduled to begin soon.

Aluminum sections began arriving on June 14, while barges, the part of the structure that floats, have been arriving this week.

City officials said they were unsure of what day the barges would be lowered into the water by crane.

There will be no trouble completing the heavy vessel dock by its June 30 deadline, Jim Carey, superintendent of Cianbro Corp., which is handling the project, said Tuesday.

The project is expected to cost $930,000.

A cruise ship is scheduled to use the dock on July 1.

Art Morgan, Bangor’s design engineer, said Tuesday that in time, the city plans to expand the dock, both physically and in use.

“It is the hopes that in the future, the state of Maine will connect Bangor to Bar Harbor … by ferry,” Morgan said.

The 85-foot heavy vessel dock will consist of eight block-shaped barges capped with aluminum platforms and stairs. It will be connected to land by two gangways, one of which will be accessible to handicapped individuals.

The structure will float to stay even with vessels and be kept from drifting by steel columns.

Existing docks for smaller vessels on the Bangor Waterfront are topped with wooden platforms.

Carey said that aluminum is stronger and lighter than wood and will withstand harsh elements better than a wooden structure.

The aluminum platforms and gangway, currently assembled on land and awaiting construction, are shiny.

“There shouldn’t be a glare issue,” Morgan said. The metal will tarnish as it is exposed to air.

Initially, the project received $744,000 in Federal Highway Administration funds, but when some of that was cut, the city lost several months of construction time while renegotiating the contract with Cianbro.