By Eric Curl
Nov. 30, 2022 – Riverwalks on both sides of the Savannah Riverwalk are in need of costly repairs and improvements. It’s not the first time.
The city’s planned $2.6 million in improvements for the riverwalk fronting the Eastern Wharf are only the latest unexpected expenses since the public walkway was constructed in the late 2000s. In 2008, the city spent about $1.2 million in additional contract work – bringing the total to more than $10 million – to stabilize the bulkhead after the seawall was dislodged by the removal of some unexpected wood pilings.
Less than two years later, another $3.8 million in repairs and improvements were needed after structural problems were discovered along a 448-foot section of the 2,000-foot structure. Those costs were picked up by the insurer of the project’s design and engineering firm, Thomas and Hutton, in exchange for the city and its contractor, TIC, agreeing to not seek any claims as a result of the work suspension and repairs.
Then in 2011, an additional 160 feet of rip rap was found to be necessary to bring the riverwalk up to design standards at a cost of about $60,000.
Across the river
As the city prepares to fix the issues along Eastern Wharf, Chatham County is taking steps to repair the portion of the Hutchinson Island riverwalk that collapsed in June.
The repair project comes more than two decades after a 30-foot portion of Slip 2 collapsed about three weeks before the opening of the newly constructed convention center in 2000. About five months after that incident, a 10-year-old boy suffered some minor scrapes and bruises after a five-foot section of the riverwalk collapsed and he fell into a waist-high hole.
Maritime Trade Center Builders, a partnership consisting of Beers Construction, William Stiles Co. and W.C. Carson Inc., built the island’s original riverwalk in the late 1990s. Saussy Engineering did the design.
Chatham County officials at the time blamed the previous collapses on soft, silty soil trapped behind the riverwalk’s bulkheads, which they said caused the pavers to shift. Bad soil conditions, compounded by an earthquake that day, are also being blamed for the latest collapse.
Thomas and Hutton was hired by the county to design the latest repairs, as the engineering firm was hired to do following the collapse in 2000. The section that collapsed back then is not the same section that failed in June, according to John Giordano, principal/project manager with Thomas and Hutton.
“As for the repair in 2000, although (Thomas and Hutton) didn’t design the wall along the Westin, apparently a few of the original helical anchors broke and we were hired by the County to design a repair of just those specific anchors,” Giordano wrote in an emailed response to inquiries about the project. “To the best of our knowledge those anchors are still holding.”
Riverwalk issues timeline
The timeline below chronicles the history of collapses and improvements of the riverwalks on Hutchinson Island and across the Savannah River along what is now the Eastern Wharf development. Much of the timeline is sourced from the Savannah Morning News/Savannahnow.com digital archive. The individual articles can be opened by clicking the links embedded in the timeline dates.
April 2000 – A 30-foot portion of the Hutchinson Island riverwalk between the convention center and the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort collapses.
The main headline in the Savannah Morning News on April 13, 2000 was about the ‘crumbling’ riverwalk on Hutchinson Island ahead of the grand opening of the convention center. Image taken from Live Oak Public Libraries’ microfiche archives.
September 2000 – A portion of the Hutchinson Island riverwalk collapsed and injured a 10-year-old boy.
Dec. 2000 – Construction workers from TIC begin repairing the Hutchinson Island riverwalk.
Aug. 2008 – The Savannah City Council approves another $1.2 million in contract work at the riverwalk extension at Savannah River Landing (what later became Eastern Wharf) after Thomas and Hutton advised city officials that the bulkhead along the shore was unstable.
May 2010 – A 448-foot section of the riverwalk along the Savannah River Landing site (Now Eastern Wharf) has structural problems that will require a $3.8 million fix. It is the second structural issue with the riverwalk’s bulkhead in less than two years, and this time, design engineer firm Thomas and Hutton offers to work with its insurance company to pay for the repairs.
June 2010 – Demolition work begins at the riverwalk extension along the Savannah River Landing site (now Eastern Wharf) to repair the 448-foot section that has been deemed structurally unsound. Thomas and Hutton blamed the failed section on inaccurate soil condition reports that were provided by a geotechnical subcontractor.
Jan. 2011 – A consultant’s report finds that the Savannah Riverwalk extension along the Savannah River Landing site (now Eastern Wharf) contains unstable sections of sheet piling and overstressed anchors that could cause structural failures.
March 2011 – Two engineering consultants estimate another $4.1 million in repairs are needed at the Savannah Riverwalk along the Savannah River Landing site (now Eastern Wharf), but Thomas and Hutton engineers counter that repairs the previous year fixed stability issues.
July 15 2011 – The consultants report that the Savannah Riverwalk along the Savannah River Landing site (now Eastern Wharf) can be brought up to design standards by adding 160 feet of rip rap along one section at a cost of about $60,000, a far less extensive fix than the $4 million in stabilization repairs that they initially estimated about four months earlier.
2017 – The city learns that Savannah Riverwalk tiebacks installed in 2010 extend onto a residential component of the private Eastern Wharf development and additional work is needed to prevent the anchors from being severed by foundation construction.
June 2022 – A portion of the Hutchinson Island riverwalk collapses.
October 2022 – City submits permitting documents and plans for almost $2.6 million in improvements to Savannah Riverwalk to address issues along Eastern Wharf. Chatham County commission approves a $493,500 engineering services contract with Thomas and Hutton to design the rebuild of the sea wall on Hutchinson Island. The increase followed an emergency $100,000 engineering contract and an almost $3 million emergency repair contract with TIC to stabilize the wall after the bulkhead’s failure.
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