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Home My WebLink About1991-06-04 Project Narrative j u PROJECT NARRATIVE NORTH ANDOVER BOAT LAUNCH TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER MASSACHUSETrS Prepared by: KIMBALL CHASE COMPANY INC. The Barnard Budding 10 Main Street, Suite 311 Andover, MA 01810 March 1991 PROJECT NARRATIVE 1 NORTH ANDOVER BOAT LAUNCH TOWN OF NORTH ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS Prgject Objective The proposed project involves the construction of a boat launch with access to the Merrimack River for the purpose of emergency access by the Town of North Andover Fire Department. The facility's primary purpose is safe, rapid, reliable, convenient emergency access by the North Andover Fire Department into the Merrimack River. Recent improvements in water quality have encouraged more public recreational use of the river and have heightened the need for rescue capabilities. While emergency access is possible at several points when river water levels are high, the low water conditions of summer and early fall pose major difficulties since there is no access point feasible under such conditions along the North Andover portion of the river. For rescue, the North Andover Fire Department uses a 14-foot aluminum outboard motorboat mounted on a tilt trailer towed by a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The access facility must enable the Fire Department to lower its rescue boat down the typically high, steep river bank. While float-in entry directly into the water would expedite launching, Fire Department personnel can walls the boat in from the base of the river bank as necessary ' under the lowest water conditions. 3 Secondary benefits of the project will provide access for recreational boating and fishing. Public Access to the site and to the facility must be controlled so that it will not disturb neighbors, inhibit emergency use, or generate even more public safety emergencies by promoting casual access into the river. Special attention must be given to preventing parked vehicles from blocking Fire Department equipment on its way to the facility. ` $ite Description The project area is located on Town owned property off Riverview Street in North g Andover, abutting the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District's Sewage Treatment Plant. It is located along the eastern bank of the Merrimack River, along the outside elbow of the river. Steep slopes form the bank of the property along the Merrimack River especially in the area of the stream bed which is fed by a tributary stream. This stream traverses the northern boundary of the property and empties into the Merrimack River. There is a significant number of large mature trees along the river bank which contribute to the integrity of the embankment and prevent destructive erosion during high water flows. A great deal of rubbish and debris has been deposited on the banks of the river as a result of spring flooding. Riverview Street, a narrow, dead-end, two-lane street provides local access to the eastern edge of the site. See Figures 1 & 2. Kimball Chase As illustrated in the property survey (Figure 3), the site is an irregularly shaped parcel of a little Iess than an acre. Its exact size is shown as 41,416 t square feet on this survey. Riverview Street defines the eastern edge of the site. The river forms its northwestern boundary, and the brook's centerline constitutes its northeastern property limit. The Greater Lawrence Sanitary District owns the property to the southwest of the site, as well as an underground utility easement on an area at its southern tip. The major natural determinant of the site's character is, and apparently always has been, the river itself. Stephen Mrozowski, who researched the site's potential archaeological significance in 1982, found that the area was composed of river terrace and floodplain deposits. Robert Morehouse, District Conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service, assessed the site's soils for this project in April of 1985. He concluded that soils are "mostly fine sandy river deposits, some of very recent origin". His report describes the soils on the site in question as "naturally occurring surficial deposits and soils...primarily alluvial in origin." However, they also present a history of artificial filling of the area after spring flooding, extending at least 40 years back. Recent shallow investigation of the site by a soil scientist from Kimball Chase Company, revealed fine sandy loam s and loamy fine sands on the upper portions of the property along Riverview Street, changing to fine sand soil textures around the 23-foot contour elevation line to the river bank. Siltv fine sands were located along and under the Merrimack River. A restrictive horizon of firm loamy and silty soil particles with a massive consistency were found to underlay upland materials. The river continues to reshape the area. Strong currents along the outside, cutting edge of the river bend make the site's river bank vulnerable to intense erosion. Morehouse detected evidence of scouring along a portion of the bank and credited the stability of the remaining shoreline to the mass of river edge tree roots. Some of these trees, especially the river birches that now hold the intersection point of the small brook with the river at the site's northern corner, are in poor condition and may eventually require replacement with structural stabilization measures. Other species of mature trees along the river bank, particularly silver maple, appear to be in good condition and will continue to provide support for the embankments. The brook also appears to be undercutting its own banks. Morehouse observed that a section of the brook edge has collapsed and eroded to create a hazardous nine-foot vertical drop. The severity of this erosion may indicate extremely high stormwater flows. These could account as well for the brook's observed capacity to wash out periodically a thin accumulation of sediment. While almost certainly prone to flow extremes, the brook is said to hold some water even at the driest seasons. As indicated by the topography, the site slopes gently down from Riverview Street until reaching its perimeters along the brook and the river; there the banks slope quite steeply, typically dropping ten or twelve feet down to the water. 2 Kimball MChase As Figure 1 shows, the site is considerably upstream from the coast, the tidal influences are not significant. There are, however, marked seasonal fluctuations in river water elevation. While no definitive local determination appears to have been made regarding typical high and low water elevations (mean high water and mean low water) there is pertinent data potentially useful for estimating these elevations. The Essex Company takes daily flow measurements at a gaging station to plot weekly or monthly high water elevations over the period from 1960 to 1974. These high water elevations varied by up to twelve feet. Although the site is a logical place to provide river access, in terms of its location both along the river and within the town, most of these natural characteristics make it a difficult site for which to design an access facility. Contributing to this difficulty are the fluctuating river water elevations, the recently deposited and highly erodible soils, the high and steep banks vulnerable to erosions by brook and river, and the presence of large river edge trees that help to stabilize the bank but also block river access. The design of the proposed ramp has taken all these issues into account and has provided a design which will overcome the wide fluctuations of the water levels, the steepness of the embankment and at the same time, preserve much of the existing natural vegetation, especially the large mature trees along the riverbank. Re latory Requirements The site falls within the jurisdictions of several governmental agencies who regulate specific actions, including those involved in construction of an access facility, through permitting procedures. The first of these are the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Waterways Division of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, both of whom regulate construction involving land below mean high water along a navigable river such as the Merrimack. The North Andover Conservation Commission, the Wetlands Division of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the Army Corps all regulate construction-related alterations to wetlands. Wetlands include land under water, along rivers and brooks, and within floodplains. Town-wide wetland mapping was contracted by the Town of North Andover Conservation Commission and presented in a report dated December 1977. No cold water fishery habitats were noted within the Town, and fishing: pressure in the Merrimack River in North Andover was reportedly low, although striped bass, shad and alewife were noted to exist in the river waters. Aerial photographs and field mapping were used to determine wetland locations, as well as biological, physiographic and hydrologic data. A summary of the site being investigated here found it to be a yearly flooded plain with low wetland class richness, little lateral diversity and low vegetative interspersion. There was an absence of swamp deposits. The site above the embankment is not designated as being in the wetland zone. Kimball Chase Maps in the North Andover Conservation Commission's 1977 report label the site's river edge as a wetland area of town-wide significance for its fisheries value. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance study indicates that the entire site lies within the 100-year doodplaim Because of its waterway and wetland characteristics, construction of an access facility on the site will necessitate permit applications and reviews by local, state and federal agencies. To determine the jurisdiction of Federal and State agencies which regulate work in environmentally sensitive areas, it was necessary to define the resource areas involved and in addition, accurately establish additional design criteria for the project including the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHW) elevation. The OHW elevation is defined by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as "the line on the shoreline established by the fluctuation of the water and indicated by a well-defined natural line impressed on the bank." Using gage information from Essex Dam, located just upstream in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the OHW was determined to be 19.0 feet NGVD (National, Geodetic Vertical Datum). Mean Low Water (MLW) was found to be 9.1 feet NGVD. Regulated Resource Areas - Wetland Protecti n Act There are three resource areas which occur on the project site and are regulated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in accordance with the Wetlands Protection Act, G.L. c 131.S.40. They are listed and described below: 1. Bank - The bank of the river as defined in the WPA, traverses the western boundary of the subject parcel along the Merrimack River and is defined as the area between the first observable break in the slope and the mean low water elevation. The top of the bank varies along the subject property but is generally defined as elevation 19.0 NGVD. This also corresponds to the OHW mark established for the site. The low mean water elevation was determined to be 9.1 NGVD. 2. Land Under Water Bodies - Land under water bodies as defined in the WPA, is the portion of the river bottom which is below the mean annual low water level of 9.1 NGVD. 3. Bordering Land •ect to Flooding g - The entire parcel is located within the 100-year flood plain as shown on the FIRM Map for the Town of North Andover and is subject to the requirements of the WPA for bordering land subject to flooding. 4 Kimball Chase Waterways License i The proposed boat launch will be subject to the Chapter 91 Waterways License Regulations pursuant to 310.CMR 9.00. An individual license will be required for this project. Water Quality Celt fication Since this project requires not only a Waterways License, but is subject to federal permitting, a Water Quality Certification is necessary to satisfy Section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act and to protect the interests of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts water quality standards pursuant to 314 CMR 4.00. Federal Permitting The construction of the boat ramp on the Merrimack River will require a Corps of Engineers permit under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Proposed Comstructi!2n An Mfoot pre-cast/cast-in-place concrete ramp structure at a slope of approximately 14S%a extending into the river, with a bituminous concrete entrance and access way at a milder slope of approximately 6%, was determined to be the most viable project design, taking into account environmental aspects, ease of construction, and cost. In addition, preservation of the existing mature trees along the river bank and within the project site weighed heavily in the design of the ramp, site access roads and parking areas. Two pre-cast concrete ramp sections, overlaying crushed gravel fill, will constitute the lower ramp section. Pre-cast sections are able to be installed in wet situations, which will avoid the extensive costs of cofferdarnm;ng associated with a cast-in-place structure. Furthermore, any damage or misplacement of the subgrade or structure during extreme high water flood situations can more easily be corrected or replaced with a pre-cast design. The remaining 40 feet of ramp will be cast-in-place. Since construction is scheduled to take place during the time of low water, the cast-in-place work will be accomplished in dry conditions. Concrete planks will be installed at the end of the ramp to create a stable base for launching boats during extensive dry weather conditions. Rip rap will be placed at the end of the concrete planks and along the sides of the ramp to prevent scouring and potential undermining of the ramp structure. The fill which will serve as a base for the ramp is designed to provide more than adequate drainage capability. Access to the site will be provided from Riverview Street. A loop drive is provided for access to the boat ramp. 1n addition, approximately 12 parking spaces are provided on site. The entire area has been designed so as to minimi a the amount of grading for preservation of the site's vegetation and to minimize impacts within and adjacent to the site's resource areas. s Kimball Chase Drainage from the proposed paved areas is directed to the center island area of the site and is directed to a culvert located under the loop access road via grassed treatment swales. The grassed swales act as filters for treatment of stormwater runoff from paved areas and in addition are designed to delay the peak runoff. Stormwater runoff is further treated at the outlet by a level spreader, which functions as a dissipator for the flow and allows the runoff to disperse as sheet flow rather than as a point discharge. Erosion control measures such as siltation fences and haybales will be used extensively on the site during construction in order to prevent erosion into the river from the upland construction and turbidity of the water during the construction within the banks and the river itself. To provide for proper construction techniques and a uniformly graded accessway, it will be necessary to remove some material below the OHW elevation. Some backfilling will also occur in this area, specifically to provide stable subbases for the ramp and roadway, and for slope stabilization. Approximate quantities of fill and dredge within each of the resource areas defined earlier in this text have been calculated below, including composition of materials: The volume computations for excavation and fill were calculated as shown below: .� EXCAVATIQN VOC.UME Excavation volume for structural components of ramp below existing grade between OHW and MLW 124.0 CY Excavation volume for structural components of ramp below existing grade below I%dLW 3 Total excavation volume for structural components of ramp below existing grade that is below OHW 157.0 CY Backfill Quantities for ramp structure up to existing grade 130.Q CY Total Net Excavation 27.0 CY FILL V LI ME Total fill volume for structural components of ramp which is above existing grade and below the OHW 112.4 CY The excess excavated material (dredge) will be utilized on site. InKimball Chase I i i The proposed site grading above the top of bank serves two purposes. It provides the proper slopes for a vehicle and trailer to access the site and properly launch a boat off the ramp. It also provides .increased flood storage capacity, since the graded elevations will, on the average, be lower than the existing ground elevation. This will mitigate any adverse affects of the ramp structure itself. The scheduled time of construction is July through September. This is, as noted above, the time of mean low water on the Merrimack River, facilitating both dredging and filling operations. This schedule also avoids disturbing fish nuts in the river. According to Larry Bandolin of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlantic salmon and shad run in May, June and October. Since the initial work will involve site preparation, and actual waterway work will not begin until late July or August, there will be no adverse affects on either species. V 0 i. 0 I i t i MChase _ a��F„ .• '�:��• •fir---� \ + A � fJ ,+,A•wluR+l7Rr �,, 3•Ir+• •� ! 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''. 9LACx3TQAN ' , 44 I I •1. .•1 ]V[[LAT -too All 1 Jr H s.M1 1L,AIKYfllat AaNSNlt3 1 'A lS: +' ?w'.7Croarim nil _ "Wa4r1 I'll Z AT"rsty ,Rrl . . ` _ ,• ,•�• _ .+-. ,�r !IaU•ai • A:K63YO4 FIGURE I REGIONAL CONTEXT EMERGENCY BOAT LAUNCHING FACILITY ON THE Prepared for the Town of North Andover , Massachusetts MERRIMACK RIVER Samuel 8• Frank Architecture + PlanningMay I985 Boston Massachusetts 'MCA 'T1 \\. , i �' -�.5:7fUr•!1�'` ,r+'► �I••. .� ti � �I SfCOVr +� ,1 \r ! '�.•.,'1 .. �i � l�i:'"c�la-IAN(`,�.,:-' � , -, _...�^ .1'• _ - n r� .l � _•�!'- '� - • •I r 'lav .°und \ -iosar tat �g, ('�. --'ti""'.•-w.�_'2: I ._,,,• 4 / - Sensors �� :.` -' : :: w.L r'^ 9Y 95 •'.I 'p ' '� •� / `. ` y. •A►itetr+oe�3t'*Seh. x. aMkx 6� •" .� 1 . ar6+ox c _ �>` 'S' �+; 1� �_ *, �:.�..,,.,. �.��.Sr.x..x-, 1 '•!• •vt,v...t�: - ■ �_i y 3 ��K 'itntrisitriiun; i rUw W,: - 1'5ts oeh• �6<a t / � y unt . - - ° ��• '- . Y. St:rwrrnas r ir♦ \ .3ar„� Ms - . use �amrri�9rh � •�'�°�``•. S€a : at! 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"r•��' y ' ..r. /f?: ,.:�., '.�� ' is j -ram+ URstrrvr ULM -{ •l..>A`, f 3 ^ a�°'arA a.s .s:r;�.i'"J L; .. rr�.,• •._-•-rs� `. ]�!�3�`1 �"� Vie• ;� ,� 4W��Saerrcoftr ',� _ ,yrr ^M?ac'+� st'{ +' A t4 r �l�hs� • '" r ..... ;" ..+Sri. •�, .__. . } � " J l #t C .` w ��}} wy,'►w 1 ` rf�e�.t�`� ._•yJh`,\. ..�?R i -�. ti.i� �«a i'"� �•�•— ;,� �. �\}4 .�" .. iL r+rT. .r{ '"'. ... I �.r• T w, ; Y'•-5 .. N - -�� ►.1 [ w "•r �s-Tr�J:, �. /• •..• 'T �s 4�"J r,Ei .r t `^•�, ., J5�• ti.L7 " `' ' �1-j + �S •irfS �v y t `J . (` low, CA �ryC a yyy �i/ /'... ` ,1 C7f.4r+'l ••�.• •/••• •��+� l[ I •,` `� .. � f�'♦ V e.+ � � / : - x• ,A tC O M '�•/r1ILd IrMY1q r.y S.r � - ` \ _ ' � , �+. VC It. IP :Wait r N ~�a •� ,;aiTr, ��/ b�/. "L�, - ` f3an aoct: .�y FIGURE 2 Source : US Geolagical Survey LOCATION'; Topographic Quadrangle EMERGENCY BOAT LAUNCHING FACILITY ON THE MERRIMACK RIVER ' Prepared For the Town of North Andover , Massachusetts May 1985 '. Samuel S. Frank Architecture + Planning 80ston Massachusetts ' N 01••S4'O.1 MAP 7 s.. ece•+.•.e•l wR M►y►..rY �Y4tN.J4. xx ,� � 3z.-oz•asa MAW WR JOfCY n. Oi.GOh2ulr7 W 4W.&L.W^ caurl 7!�1• ,�, !i3•z4'in Y3'ar Ice r a YS a. 44.4•04•14-c OW Ka.IV in-c 4 P !a 4a• 2 3 OsoY /L suv � t1l+r�,rr h Q 1A iYcraw• O. ,p s i N MAP 712 � ♦t,A»Sy,F. Q�4.Yc, } II uj 4 •f7 ' ��3�y 'J)ry �'�•��4/R R{rY4ilVwLD 7 t M � f .. M/I JOMU/ l.7��M r1C11JlYRlfi''.. LL) map 'a sus xa.►arti6 S •ir R wa.,o rwr►�tu GR►%&S"4uueaTT5 f c++a.sER uwwc�+ct aAMMAV v+ernwr O L. ..14. r a.w 4 r AT• O •a Y` '11• !y i sa�•�aoa-w r sab ' At;li T�CY Dif I.AWRt►KL •J3+.•n�•DI•Y/ S9 C.& =I�CT .6 q, 46f I.tl KT '. w A174 4t, A10 A4. J •-ter..- FIGURE 3 a BOUNDARY SURVEY a