CAPE CHARLES — A proposal to construct a massive concrete launching ramp in Cape Charles Harbor will come before the town’s Wetlands and Coastal Dune Board on October 7, as a local company seeks approval for infrastructure needed to support reconstruction of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Coastal Precast Systems, LLC, has submitted an application to build a 120-foot-wide by 462-foot-long concrete ramp that would extend from the company’s plant yard into the southern portion of Cape Charles Harbor. The project would impact 0.34 acres of jurisdictional waters.
The company is manufacturing large foundational and fendering concrete units at its Cape Charles facility for the Key Bridge reconstruction effort. The sloped ramp would allow these massive precast components to be launched directly into the harbor for transport up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore.
Permanent Infrastructure Planned
While designed to support the Key Bridge project, Coastal Precast Systems plans to retain the structure permanently after the bridge components are completed. The company says the ramp would serve as a means to haul out larger barges for maintenance work and return them to the water.
The construction would require filling approximately 10,549 square feet of subaqueous bottom with aggregate material, retained by a 330-foot sheet pile wall. Riprap toe protection would be installed around the perimeter of the steel wall for additional support.
Six permanent 12-inch diameter timber piles with warning signage would be installed around the ramp to alert vessels to the underwater structure.
The project also includes six temporary moorings west of the ramp where precast units would be briefly secured before their journey to Baltimore Harbor.
The Cape Charles Wetlands and Coastal Dune Board will review the application at its October 7 meeting under the town’s zoning ordinance governing coastal construction projects.
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