Up until now, it seemed the only traffic the government dock at Pither’s Point would see this summer would be from the hundreds of seagulls that perch there each day.
But the Town of Fort Frances has decided the dock is structurally sound enough to allow the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship to utilize it during the annual three-day tournament next month.
The town informed the FFCBC committee last week of its decision to allow limited committee traffic on the dock after JML Engineering Ltd. completed all of its structural inspections.
“We are going to allow the FFCBC committee to go out on the dock and to use it for weigh-ins, but it is not being re-opened to the public at this point in time because it is in disrepair at the moment,” said Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown.
This means only a limited number of people helping out with the tournament will be allowed on the dock at any one time.
“It is safe to have a limited amount of people on the dock, and only the FFCBC will be able to use the end of the platform for weigh-ins and for docking purposes,” Brown stressed.
Basically, the major problem with the structure isn’t at the bulkhead of the dock, but rather with the portion of the dock that leads to the end.
And the problems are not as visible to the naked eye as most would expect. The deck, top boards, and the stringers actually are in good shape.
The problems start with the movement of the dock off of the stringers.
“The stringers are no longer making contact with the deck and the bents, the poles that extend into the water and down under ground, have busted or corroded,” noted Brown.
This has caused the dock structure to shift—north to south—over time.
“The structural engineer has been out on the dock and has finished the inspections process,” Brown said. “Now we are just waiting for the final report.”
Brown said he expects the report to be ready for presentation within the next two weeks.
However, even though the report will be in and council will know the exact amount it will cost to fix the problem, the money isn’t available in the town’s 2007 budget.
“There is going to have to be some money put into it [the dock] in order to bring it up to a standard and the town doesn’t have it in the budget,” Brown explained.
“Some money” is an understatement as Brown said the job is more elaborate and costly than most residents probably are expecting.
“We don’t know the price exactly, but we are looking at probably hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he remarked. “And we are not in a position to do this right now.
“It will be brought back to council and hopefully put into the 2008 budget,” he added.
The dock was closed in April because it was determined by Brown to be too worse for wear.
Barricades and “no trespassing” signs have been placed at the front of the 490-foot structure and will remain there until the dock is safe once again.
Council approved the inspection of the dock at its May 28 meeting and hired JML Engineering—at a cost of $9,950—to conduct a report that will be presented to council upon its completion.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
