21st Century Shipping Terminal or Wind Turbine Staging Area - or Both?

In 2015 the consultants outllned requirements to upgrade the Pier Complex which, if carried out, would have seen the ultimate fulfillment of a concept that originated in the late 19th century, became a reality in 1916, and had been improved from time to time over the years until 1995.  

In 2019, however, an extraordinary proposal from a corporate partnership of regional electric utility Eversource and Orsted, a Danish renewable energy company, was announced by the Connecticut Port Authority and is described in a website dedicated to the project.

The State Pier and the Central Vermont Pier would be repurposed as a staging area where the huge components of wind turbines, their blades, towers and sea-bed foundations could be prepared for transport to new offshore wind farm sites. To create the flat area required, the harbor waters between the piers would be filled in.

The Connecticut Port Authority also terminated the contract with Logistec, awarding it to Gateway Terminal, operator of the Port of New Haven.

___________________________

Internet photographs of the Block Island wind farm offer a preview of the future of our coastal views - long a feature of Europe's offshore horizons as well as hilly inland regions.

_________________________________

A Big Question:

Can Traditional Shipping Co-exist with Wind Turbine Staging?

The New London Harbor Management Commission insisted in 2019 that the capacity for shipping operations should not be lost in the re-purposing of the State Pier Complex for wind turbine staging: 

   "While the near-term opportunities for economic benefits associated with the use of State Pier to support the off-shore wind-energy industry are recognized, the project should not diminish future port capabilities for docking, unloading and storage of diverse cargoes," nor should it "diminish future opportunities for use of existing rail connections."

An Op Ed in The Day in July, 2019, urged the public to get involved. Kevin Blacker was one of several critics who took up the cause, writing in a letter to the CT Examiner early in 2020 that State legislators and the public should read the 2015 Milone & MacBroom report to see how "a diverse, multi-use facility" could work. 

While opponents have voiced environmental concerns, two issues that have captured the most attention are the displacement of the small fishing fleet that had tied up at the CV Pier for years and an unsuccessful legal challenge by the owner of a displaced road salt distribution company.

_______________________

In its 2020 permit application to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection the Port Authority stated that "the Project" would continue to support "existing break bulk operations for steel, coil steel, lumber, copper billets, as well as other cargo."  

Whether the wind project can co-exist with shipping remains to be seen. The application states that break bulk operations will only be possible for the three months that the wind project will not be in operation: December, January and February. Because the wind project is expected to continue for ten years, with an option for seven more, traditional shipping could be restricted for a very long time. 

The short answer to the co-existence question is that we will not know until we see how many ships come to New London during the three-month windows when the wind project is dormant.

______________________

BREAKING NEWS: June 2021

This exhibition has been updated to incorporate information regarding (1) future railroad operations at the State Pier Complex, and (2) the outcome of negotiations regarding preservation of part of the historic Central Vermont Railway Pier. 

It has also been updated with news that the fishermen who were to be displaced by the Pier project will be allowed to return. Under the headline "Fishermen can remain at State Pier," The Day reported on June 22, 2021, that the Port Authority had informed the commercial fishing businesses that "they can remain at State Pier for the forseeable future." 

These developments are described below:

______________________

1. The Rail Connection

Although rails will not be installed on the reconfigured piers, representatives of the Port Authority and the consulting firm AECOM report that the New England Central Railroad (latest successor to the Central Vermont) is expected to install as many as four rail sidings near the complex in anticipation of a revived need for rail service.

Below: A photo taken 67 years ago from the walkway of the original Gold Star Bridge shows the CV tracks approaching the rail yard, passing under the main line of the New Haven Railroad. Several tracks extended onto the CV Pier where until 1946 cargo was loaded onto the CV's freight boats for shipment to New York and other regional ports.

The State Pier is at upper right and tracks leading to it also pass under the New Haven RR, occupied by box cars at the upper left edge of the photo.

Rail operations here have almost disappeared in recent years. As a harbinger of things to come, however, a $12.8 million upgrade of the tracks from Willimantic north into Massachusetts was completed in 2019 with support from U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney. A similar upgrade between Willimantic and New London will be required if rail service will be used to support operations on the reconfigured piers.

Below: This nautical chart of New London harbor outlines the wind hub future complex in green. Because the chart dates from 1964, trackage is still seen on the Central Vermont Pier.

Reproduced courtesy of AECOM

2. Preservation of CV Pier Stonework

Because the Central Vermont Pier is on the National Register of Historic Places, the major structural changes needed to incorporate it into the wind turbine staging facility required a review by the State Historic Preservation Office and consultations with other interested parties. That process, begun in 2020, acknowledges with regret that the wind turbine project will have an "adverse effect" on the CV Pier.  In other words, it will no longer exist in its original form.

In such cases, regulations call for "mitigations" to counter the loss of the historic fabric, in this case preserving part of the pier masonry; creating an archival record of what will be lost; and publishing an illustrated history of the property in an interactive website and in print. 

As an illustration of 19th century pier design, the stone perimeter walls of the CV Pier are thought to be the last intact example in a Connecticut port. Plans for the rebuilt piers - which will be physically joined by filling the space between them - will obliterate the east side of the CV Pier. At the request of the State Historic Preservation Office and a preservation advocacy organization, New London Landmarks, the design of the project has been modified to allow the stonework of the west side to be saved, along with a section of quay running northwest from the end of the Pier.

______________________

3.  Commercial Fishermen May Stay After All

As reported in The Day on June 22, 2021 the local fishermen who were told they would have to leave have been granted a reprieve by the Connecticut Port Authority and may stay for "the foreseeable future." Kevin Debbis of Donna May Fisheries was quoted as saying "this is something to celebrate," after two years of stress. The engineering firm of Moffat & Nichol is working on design changes to accommodate the needs of the fishing companies on the west side of the Central Vermont Pier, where the boats have tied up for many years. This side of the pier had already been slated for preservation. That it will continue to serve a useful purpose is indeed "something to celebrate."  

__________________________

With this news "Bringing the Ships to New London: A Tale of Two Piers" comes to an end

The long chronology of these two maritime landmarks has emerged in bits and pieces from the 1880s to the present. What remains of their original 19th and 20th century appearance is about to disappear forever as the piers are repurposed as part of the nationwide campaign to increase America's reliance on renewable energy sources.

Years of discussion and proposals as to the management of the State and Central Vermont Piers - by journalists, governors, mayors, admirals, businessmen and legislators - never turned it into the economic engine for the city and state that had been envisioned since the late 19th century.

Perhaps that elusive success will be achieved, at long last, with the revolutionary changes now taking place.

--Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian, January 2022

__________________________________

Click here to view the Connecticut Port Authority's description of the reconfigured piers.

__________________________________

Click here to view the website of Revolution Wind, the first wind project to be built using the construction and support capabilities of the transformed State Pier/Central Vermont Pier complex. 

__________________________________

"A New Day for New London:" This Revolution Wind ad appeared at intervals in The Day and other media in 2022.