Posted on August 21, 2024
37, 000 tons of stone is being placed on the Milwaukee Harbor south breakwater over a five month period by the Lake Michigan Floating Plant assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District (USACE). Funding this year allowed the project to grow from its usual 5,000-10,000 tons per year.
The floating plant conducts stone placement at Calumet Harbor, Chicago Harbor, Milwaukee Harbor, and places in between.
Kevin Kwasny, Chief of the Harbors Maintenance Section of the Lake Michigan Project Office said, “Every year we come here and place stone to shore up the integrity of the concrete structure that are currently here.”
Contractors transported stone from local quarries to the harbor. Then stones are loaded, one by one, onto the vessel. Each stone weighing between three to seven tons.
Once the vessel is full, a barge transports the stone, crane, and crew to the break wall. The crane operator meticulously places boulders along the barrier to keep waves from overpowering the wall. On the floating plant welders stand by to work on the crane buckets.
“It’s pretty much an everyday process that we weld on these teeth and buckets because the granite damages them pretty heavily”, says John Laitinen, an Oiler Deckhand on the tugboat Kenosha. Laitinen is currently filling in on welding, as a majority of the crew are cross trained to help.
The south breakwater was built in the 1880’s and measures 4500ft. Enhancing the breakwater will help continue to protect the Milwaukee shoreline and coastal communities from the waves of Lake Michigan
The overall project will place 470,000 tons of stone over the next 15 years.
