Vermilion Harbor West Pier Repair

Vermilion Harbor is located in Erie County, Ohio, on the south shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Vermilion River, about 37 miles west of Cleveland and 21 miles east of Sandusky. Vermilion Harbor is a small-craft harbor originally authorized by the River & Harbor Act and constructed in 1836 by the federal government for commercial purposes.  The existing West pier structure consists of a laid up stone cap with timber crib and fill stone. Inspections performed on 20 October 2021 noted a section of approximately 150 feet where laid up stone has shifted down slope on the lake side of the pier opening a gap in the structure. This was combined with loss of granular fill material across the opened gap in the structure.  The lake section of the pier is to be completed by removing all laid up stone that has begun to settle downslope to the water. This stone is to be stockpiled and replaced to restore the pier to its initial condition. New granular fill is to be placed beneath the laid up stone to reset the cap stones to their initial elevations. In addition to this repair, an approximate length of 920 ft is to see additional rip rap repairs from the beach section to the north wrap on the lake side to change the overall stone slope from 1 on 1.5 to 1 on 2.