The full length of the Ocean City Boardwalk opened on Friday after a winter of repairs.
The 500 block of the Ocean City Boardwalk reopened Friday after a five-month project that saw the entire stretch demolished and rebuilt from the sand up.
The work was the first phase of what's anticipated as a seven-year project to replace the aging boardwalk substructure and decking between Fifth and 12th streets.
For runners, walkers and bicyclists, the return of an uninterrupted five-mile round trip on the boards is good news. The work had forced an off-Boardwalk detour between Sixth Street and Brighton Place.
A small section of decking on a new wide turn at Fifth Street is the only work that remains to be done.
City Council voted in June to award a $1.1 million contract to Fred M. Schiavone Construction of Malaga for the first phase between Fifth and Sixth streets. The contractor is the same one who completed work on the new Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway.
The contractor met an April 12 deadline, but the work will see added costs due to unforeseen obstacles related to a buried section of jetty.
Crews had to fabricate concrete pilings because they couldn't drive wooden pilings into the hidden rocks at Fifth Street. Ocean City Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said the city is finalizing added costs now.
The reconstructed boardwalk adds a smoother turn where the old structure took a dogleg at Fifth Street. The city anticipates safer conditions for bikers and runners at a turn where the boardwalk also gets narrower, Dattilo said..
The decking is constructed from an existing stock of 3-inch-thick southern yellow pine (thicker than most of the rest of the boardwalk), and the spans are shorter than the rest of the boardwalk.
"It is and feels sturdier underfoot, and the decking is expected to have a longer useful life," Dattilo said.
All decking is screwed down to avoid “nail pops,” Workers constructed
sections of decking off-site, a process that
saved time and money, he said.
City crews will continue to replace decking between Second Street and Fifth Street between now and Memorial Day, so boardwalk detours are still possible.
"All of this, combined with previous off-season work at the northern end of the boardwalk has us in the best shape in years from St. James to the end of this project," Dattilo said.
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A small section of decking on a new wide turn at Fifth Street is the only work that remains to be done.
City Council voted in June to award a $1.1 million contract to Fred M. Schiavone Construction of Malaga for the first phase between Fifth and Sixth streets. The contractor is the same one who completed work on the new Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway.
The contractor met an April 12 deadline, but the work will see added costs due to unforeseen obstacles related to a buried section of jetty.
Crews had to fabricate concrete pilings because they couldn't drive wooden pilings into the hidden rocks at Fifth Street. Ocean City Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said the city is finalizing added costs now.
The reconstructed boardwalk adds a smoother turn where the old structure took a dogleg at Fifth Street. The city anticipates safer conditions for bikers and runners at a turn where the boardwalk also gets narrower, Dattilo said..
The decking is constructed from an existing stock of 3-inch-thick southern yellow pine (thicker than most of the rest of the boardwalk), and the spans are shorter than the rest of the boardwalk.
"It is and feels sturdier underfoot, and the decking is expected to have a longer useful life," Dattilo said.
All decking is screwed down to avoid “nail pops,” Workers constructed sections of decking off-site, a process that
