Rocky Point pier almost ready for bids
Despite a slight setback, the state-led process which will result in a public pier at Rocky Point Park in Warwick is well underway and nearly out of the design phase, according to Andres Aveledo, an engineer contracted through the planning and development sector of the state Department of Environmental Management.
Aveledo appeared before the Warwick City Council last week to present the final design documents of the pier – which includes an approximately 260-foot-long wooden walkway leading from the existing blacktop path out to a 21-by-111-foot main deck elevated 13 feet off the surface of Narragansett Bay.
There will be an assortment of double wide bench seating, a shaded structure with more bench seating beneath, handrails around the perimeter of the pier and post-mounted, solar-powered lighting. Aveledo said that the deck would be situated perfectly close to a significant drop-off in the oceanic topography, making it a pristine spot for fishing.
The only thing left to accomplish is to get the city council to sign off on an agreement to lease the land, which is owned by the city, to the state so they can advertise for bids to build the pier. The state would pay for the project.
However, that exact cost, Aveledo said, couldn’t be predicted at this time because of two “alternate” pieces to the bid – a floating wooden structure and a larger, 30-by-60-foot steel structure – which the state may or may not be inclined to pay for, depending on the cost estimates they receive from prospective bidders.
Avedelo said that the only hang-up in their presentation to the council, which pushed the lease agreement back a couple weeks, was clerical in nature and not anything significant. The issue will be back before the council once again during their next regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 17.
Avedelo said once the lease agreement is secured, the project should move forward quickly.
“Within a month of getting the lease agreement approved, we should be out to bid,” he said.
