Port Alder Waterfront Seawall Opens to the Public

The City of Port Alder celebrated the opening of its new waterfront seawall and promenade with a ribbon cutting in June, marking the completion of a three-year, $67 million project. The 2,400-foot combi-wall replaces a timber bulkhead built in the 1930s and protects the downtown from storm surges.

Halvorsen Pike drove 412 pipe piles and 1,860 pairs of sheet piles from barges, installed 298 tie-back anchors and cast 3,900 cubic yards of cap concrete. The project finished 52 days ahead of schedule and $3.1 million under budget.

Construction took place alongside a working waterfront. Weekly meetings with business owners, ADA-compliant walkways in front of every storefront and a dedicated community liaison kept the downtown open throughout. More than a third of the hours were worked by local residents.

"The first king tide after the wall was complete came right up to the cap and stopped," Mayor Janet Solheim told the crowd. "That is what we paid for, and that is what we got."