EAST LIVERPOOL Boat ramp improvement project along the Ohio River set to start

The boat-launch facility will be closed for much of the summer.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST LIVERPOOL -- After several delays, a project intended to improve access to the Ohio River was to start today.
That's good news for boaters in the area, many of whom use the municipally owned Broadway Wharf for access to the river.
If there's a downside to the project, it's that the wharf's launch ramp will be closed the rest of the summer.
The city will try to keep the ramp open through July 4, Bill Cowan, city planner, said Tuesday. Then it will be closed until early October, the expected completion date for the project, Cowan said.
City officials had to take bids three times and revise the project, initially intended to begin in fall 2001, until offers came in under the $380,000 budget, Cowan explained.
Murphy Construction of Follansbee, W.Va., was awarded the contract in May for $314,000. The city also has additional money tied up in engineering fees. Figures on that aspect weren't immediately available, Cowan said.
Wider ramp
He acknowledged that the scope of the project is less ambitious than officials initially intended.
The effort will entail installing a concrete pier to which three floating docks will be attached. Crews also will replace the wharf's single-lane boat-launching ramp with a two-lane structure.
The wider ramp will make it easier for recreational boaters to get their crafts into and out of the river. On busy summer weekends, nearly 100 boats a day are launched and recovered from Broadway Wharf, just upriver from the intersection of Broadway and River Road.
Another improvement will entail making the boat-trailer turnaround area bigger, Cowan said.
Projects axed
Features scuttled to trim the cost included a metal wall that was to be built in the water about 12 feet from the riverbank. The 133-foot-long wall would have had docks attached to it. A sidewalk was to be installed atop fill between the wall and the bank.
Also axed was the paving of a parking area next to the wharf.
The city is relying on a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for 75 percent of the job, including the engineering. The remainder will come from the city.