Client:
Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority

Location:
Detroit, MI

Prime Consultants:
NTH Consultants, Ltd.

Total Project Budget:
$6,261,500.00 (approximately)

NTH Project Budget:
$760,000.00

Start Date:
August 2003

Completion Date:
June 2011
John Kerr and John Jamian (Port Authority), as well as Charlie Roarty and Jason Edberg (NTH Consultants), discuss the details of Port Detroit's redevelopment. See how this project ties together the Detroit Riverwalk through the redevelopment of Detroit's waterfront through use of an onshore wharf, an offshore wharf, and many other shoreline restoration features.

Public Dock & Terminal

Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority

Engineering Honorable Conceptor Award: 
American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan (ACEC/Michigan)

The new DWCPA Public Dock and Terminal is Detroit’s front door to the international maritime community that sails the Great Lakes. The adaptive re-use of an underutilized portion of the Detroit River shoreline in a critical location provides the final link in the East Riverwalk through downtown Detroit.

In 2004, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority retained NTH to investigate the frontage between the Bates Outfall downstream and the GM Renaissance Center upstream. NTH was then retained to prepare permit applications, provide design engineering services, and provide construction contract administration for the repair of the existing wharf and construction of a new offshore wharf. In addition, NTH was retained by Hamilton Anderson Associates (HAA) and the DWCPA to provide geotechnical engineering services and construction materials testing, respectively, for the Terminal Building. NTH also performed Phase I and Phase II Environmental investigations and prepared a Baseline Environmental Assessment for this parcel in 2003-2004.

Project Approach
To effectively integrate this property into the overall vision of the East Riverwalk, several challenges needed to be addressed. The challenges included: shoreline stabilization, rehabilitation of a 90-year old wharf structure, continuation of the riverfront walkway, integration of this property with adjacent planned land uses, and maintaining two active CSO outfalls and a raw water pump station and transmission main; all while coordinating construction operations to mitigate negative impacts to adjacent property owners and facilities. 

To achieve these results, NTH was responsible for:
  • Procuring and reviewing available historical site, geotechnical, and previous land use data.
  • Investigating existing structural, environmental and geotechnical site conditions.
  • Preparing engineering studies in support of a MDNRE/USACE permit application for existing wharf rehabilitation and new wharf construction.
  • Preparing a Basis of Design report and Engineers opinion of probable construction cost.
  • Preparing civil-site and structural construction documents for shoreline structures.
  • Preparing environmental and geotechnical reports, providing coordination of shoreline structures, and foundation consultation in support of terminal building construction.

This project involved coordination of many stakeholders including the City of Detroit, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel Authority, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, General Motors Corporation, and State and Federal agencies.

These stakeholders were informed and involved as data was collected and analyzed; alternatives were evaluated; and technical recommendations were made. The project team shared pertinent information with the stakeholders and developed approaches to integrate the DWCPA site into the overall plans for the entire East Riverfront Development.

NTH faced many challenges on this project due to the presence of existing infrastructure, changes in future usage requirements mid-way through the project, as well as a number of outside stakeholder changes. Construction was completed in June 2011, in preparation for the summer schedule of events planned along the City of Detroit waterfront.