SAUGATUCK, Mich. (WZZM) - If you head out to Lake Michigan this summer, you may see your federal stimulus dollars at work. Some of the largest, most expensive, federal stimulus projects in West Michigan are going on through the US Army Corps of Engineers and involve work on Lake Michigan harbors.
Your stimulus money is at work, repairing damage from when the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw hit the Grand Haven breakwall in 2005.
"What was happening with that hole in the wall was, a lot of the material was getting washed out from underneath...," says Tom O'Bryan, Area Engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers. "We wanted to get it filled up and secured before we had some major settlement."
The Army Corps of Engineers was also able to spend more than $2 million for additional dredging this spring in St. Joseph, Holland, Grand Haven and Ludington, thanks to stimulus funding.
"That dredging allows the commercial vessels that come into those harbors to carry more tonnage on their vessels," says O'Bryan. "It makes a more efficient trip with their vessels."
But the biggest project the Corps of Engineers is taking on, thanks to stimulus money, will start in Saugatuck in September. Ten years ago, the Corps did phase one of the project and built a steel and concrete revetment. Since then, there has not been money for recreational harbors.
So, when the federal government was looking for shovel-ready projects, the Corps pulled this one off the shelf and will complete the rest of the revetment walls.
"These structures are cement sitting on wooden piling," explains Tower Marine owner Roland Peterson. "With the low water, the wooding piling has gotten rot in it and the whole thing is collapsing."
Great Lakes Dock and Materials is working on the Grand Haven and Saugatuck projects.
"Very excited about the work," says Joe Bailey of Great Lakes Dock and Materials. "It's very good for our employees. Without this stimulus money, they may be out of a job, but we're able to keep everyone employed and add additional staff. We also buy (from) local suppliers. All the stimulus money is US-made product. It's not foreign material at all and we use all local suppliers as much as we can."
The Saugatuck project was originally expected to cost up to $10 million, but bids came in just over $4 million largely because the price of steel has dropped so drastically, saving stimulus money.
Contractors are thankful for the boost the stimulus is giving.
"With the economic downturn that we're in, over the last couple years or so, we've had a great reduction in our sales and this helps us to at last give us a shot in the arm to at least give us some ongoing work taking place," says Rob Stewart of Construction Concepts and Design.
But Marina owner Peterson says it's not enough. He thinks planning and dredging needs to be done for the full Saugatuck harbor.
"That's the danger of stimulus money," says Peterson. "It's long term jobs that count. You know, not just the little construction work. Those are temporary jobs."
The work in Saugatuck is supposed to start in September, continue into the fall, and then next spring and summer.
Altogether the Army Corps of Engineers projects have created more than a dozen construction jobs and helped keep others working. They are also helping out suppliers in the region.
Amy Fox
In your voice
