THE AFTERMATH - WASHED OUT AND DESTROYED WALKWAY AND SEA WALL

[Willy]

This is going to be expensive and would not be as big a problem as it will be if those in charge had not squandered taxpayers money on frivolous, unnecessary and expensive projects around town. I took some photos of the damage caused by the recent wind storm and waves. I frankly was surprised at the damage caused by Mother Nature to the sidewalk and barrier. Like I said before, dig deep into your pockets because this is going to cost some big bucks.

THE CAUSE

THE AFTERMATH

[Freedom Seeker]

Good pictures Willy, sadly.  Does anyone know how long that sidewalk existed, who engineered it, and will there be any different construction in the "new" replacement construction?  It looks like it was a six inch (four inch in some places?) slab built on sand.  Obviously, not the best construction for a freezing, thawing, moving, volatile lakefront ground. 

[Willy]

Thanks FS. The walk has been there for quite some time and I'm sure that improvements have been made in construction methods since this was built. Actually sand is the best type of ground to build sidewalks on, there is less expanding and contracting than what happens on regular soil. The only problem is that sand is easily washed away and makes for a poor material when used around water due to is ease of erosion. When I was taking the pictures of the damage I was thinking about all the steps that needed to be taken to repair/replace the damage caused by the waves. Excavation alone will be extremely expensive due to the proximity to water. A barge may be needed to help with that. Removing the debris then preparing the site for construction alone will be astronomical because working near the water demands experts in that area. Then engineering the construction and getting DNR approval. Consultants will be needed to determine the best methods and type of replacement to achieve current and future needs. Let's not forget some sort of protective barrier to prevent breakers from hitting the new construction. If this isn't done right we will be back here a few short years from now discussing this very topic. With the City's track record of bumbling large projects I only hope they get this right. Then there's the money. Who's going to pay? Will this be paid by grants provided by other poor shmuck taxpayers or will the City have to float a bond issue to pay for it. How is the damage and construction going to be protected while repairs and replacement are going on. Maybe we can borrow some of that 100 million dollar school tax money to help out. We are going further and faster in debt than Detroit or Flint. Hey, a new slogan is born. "Ludington, Flint on the Lake".

[Willy]

Forgive me. I forgot to add another tiny detail that will help further drain our pockets. Landscaping! Can anyone guess what the wise City leaders will want to top off this money pit with? How about a bronze sculpture of X-mayour Henderson and X-CIty manager Shay congratulating themselves on a job well done. Or a plaque commemorating the anti Constitutional citizen banning policies and ordinances passed by a blinded by bias City Council.  When XLFD was pointing out all of the corruption that existed  they banned him from City Hall on a trumped up charge made by Ludington's own darling but legal immigrant, Heather. Funny how memories of the good old days come flooding back when something bad happens.

[XLFD]

This reminded me of a walk I had with my two youngest along the shoreline about a decade or so back, when the water levels for Lake Michigan was about average or below.  It was during fall and as we were passing the Loomis parking lot and we all noticed some fair sized waves lapping over the seawall just south of the boat launch.  As we went down the sidewalk that currently is in disarray, I noticed that the grassy area to the side had minimal protection from the waves, just some rocks, which were fine enough to withstand that day's waves and water level, but as I looked out there was nothing protecting it from nasty storm waves when the waters would be rushing in from the harbor entrance to the shore when the water flow was mostly west and a little south-- as it often is, and can be seen in the picture below showing what has happened in a couple of perfect storms this fall.  I related this concern to the youths, and can't say I was too surprised when this happened this fall.  It didn't take a civil engineer to see the weakness in that section of beachfront.

Our two Johns and their Muskegon engineers had a ridiculous walkway proposed between the west end of Ludington Avenue and the Lighthouse breakwall, as you can figure out from the picture, if the full force of Lake Michigan comes in on a more southwest vectored current, that project would suffer a similar fate, unless that whole shoreline had protections that would be too costly considering the additional fact that a lot of people would be upset because the section of beach would have to be lost too.

[stump]

Hopefully when work is started they will use the existing sidewalk sections for rubble to build up the protection from the waves. It looks like broken sidewalk pieces out there now. Was that from the last sidewalk?  The contractor that does the sidewalks for the property owners should  have a place other than Towns to drop off concrete so the City can use it for erosion protection. Maybe the slabs should be stuck in the ground sideways to create a wall.

[Willy]

Waves travel in arcs so they would have been striking that part of the harbor for years but your right X, a wind directly from a western angle that have the maximum contact is what happened but I think the main problem was the high water undermining the loosely piled pieces of stone and concrete piled there. Surging water siphoned thru the rock pile and eroded away the sand base. My guess is that an interlocking steel wall which now exists near the parking area will be installed and all of the existing debris will be used as back fill. Stump is correct in that much of the material  used to hold back the surf is concrete slabs and stone. I took the photo below in 2017 showing the entire pile of concrete which was exposed when the water was pulled back after each wave. Notice how loosely the stones are piled without any means to hold them in place. This was bound to happen eventually so here we are ready to fork out more money for damage that should have been predicted if anyone had the common sense.

[XLFD]

Willy,

I didn't mean to convey to you or others that waves travelled in any other way than by 'waves', but the vector arrows in my picture showed where the maximal force from waves would come in and directly strike the affected area when conditions were prime for erosion.  As water gets higher, the direction from where the waves approaches widens so that even less direct waves can damage this area.

The City has had fair luck with gabion along that section of beach and at the waterfront of Copeyon Park, so do you think they might use that either instead of the steel sea wall or together with it in the front or back fill?

[Willy]

I agree. Although I think the interlocking steel wall is the best bet for the walkway area because of the force the waves have on the banks. I don't think the gabion would hold up under the heavy surf. This situation is a real life lesson for all those in charge and that is to leave water front property alone and in a natural state. Normally the existing concrete slabs would do their job as they have done for years but not in an area that is landscaped. Although the Ludington Ave beach has been pounded by high water it recycles any sand washed from it to points up and down it's beach and remains mostly intact because there is no place for the sand to go. Ludington State Park has successfully used this system of rocks as well as wooden barriers for years along the beach. I just hope they don't get bitten by the stupid bug and install barriers at the end of Ludington ave., but only where it is needed and that would be where the beach area has already been developed south of the boat launch.

[stump]

The interlocking steel sea wall is probably the best bet for solving the erosion problem but only if it is installed high enough to stop the waves. In the cities infinite wisdom they will only place the wall from the west end project south . Water will still overflow and continue to erode and undercut until the new concrete collapses.  Maybe they should install a dune to protect the area.

[Freedom Seeker]

Ha ha ha! Stump! Maybe they'll install a beer tent where the dune was and that will hold back the Lake! Oh wait, that IS their plan. Maybe those magic tent anchors will stop the erosion!

[stump]

How about this, maybe when the circus tent is up the wind will pick it up and collapse it. Then the city can fill it with sand to create a dune that won't wash /blow away. LOL

[Willy]

I'm amazed. The damaged waterfront near the boat launch has been replaced. I don't think the City has ever completed a project in record time like they did replacing the old damaged seawall with a new one. I must have missed all the information the Council put out regarding obtaining the money so fast and making repairs in record time. I'm happy to say that if the  City really wants to get something done in a hurry then we can count on them. X, do you have any information on this?