USACE proposes breakwater repair, maintenance work in Isles of Shoals Harbor of Refuge FNP

CONCORD, Mass. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District is proposing to perform maintenance and repair work of three breakwater structures located in the Isles of Shoals Harbor of Refuge Federal Navigation Project in Rye, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine.The purpose of the proposed work is to repair the three stone breakwaters which form the Isles of Shoals Harbor of Refuge (also known as Gosport Harbor) to their previous dimension to return full functionality of the structures. The breakwaters sustained significant damage during the winter storms of 2015 and 2018.

The three breakwaters are (from south to north) Star Island to Cedar Island (800 feet long), Cedar Island to Smuttynose Island (900 feet long), and Smuttynose Island to Malaga Island (300 feet long). The breakwaters were initially built between 1821 and 1913. Of the three breakwaters, two are located entirely in Maine, while the southern-most (Cedar Island to Star Island) is split by the state border with New Hampshire.

Repairs to the three breakwaters would involve a combination of recovery and resetting of existing stone and delivery and placement of new armor stone.

The work is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2022 and is expected to take about seven months to complete. The window for construction will be April 1 through Nov. 30, 2022.
The proposed work is being coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Maine Department of Environmental
Protection, Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine Historic Preservation Office, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire Fish and Game, the Passamaquoddy Tribe Historic Preservation Officer, the Penobscot Tribe Historic Preservation Officer, the Town of Rye, and the Town of Kittery. An Environmental Assessment is available for
review upon request.

USACE is soliciting comments from members of the public; federal, state and local agencies; American Indian Tribes; and other interested parties to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. The public notice with more detailed information is available for review on the District website at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/regulatory/PublicNotices/2021/20211210-IOSBW-Public-Notice-Dec-2021-1.pdf.

Public comments on this proposed work should be forwarded no later than Jan. 31, 2022 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751, Attn: Mark Habel, Project Manager, or by email to nae-pn-nav@usace.army.mil.