Nathalie Sturgeon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Saint Croix Courier

Three options have been presented to the public for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Market Wharf and Market Square.

Fundy Engineering was contracted by the Town of Saint Andrews following the rejection of an overpriced tender in the fall of last year. 

Roughly 70 people attended the open house.  

John McKelvey, Fundy’s director of survey, civil and geotechnical engineering, said the company provided options for infill and different materials for the front wall of Market Square.

“They’re all really good options,” he said. “Because there are so many combinations, it is a little bit tricky to say which is the absolute best.”

One option involves no infill but simply repairing the sea wall at Market Square. Two others involve some infill — with the largest bringing the Market Square side out as far as the Day Adventure side — or about 10 metres. 

The original design would have brought the infill out about 50 metres in total.

There are also two material types up for consideration. Wood cribbing — stacked, interlocking pieces of wood — or Redi-Rock, a precast concrete system used primarily to build massive, highly durable retaining walls and freestanding structures.

McKelvey said there is also a combination of the two, which he said is the most cost effective option.

“There are not huge gaps in longevity between each of them,” he said. “It really comes down to cost.” 

Fundy Engineering studied the entire wharf structure as part of its assessment. Engineers were able to identify critical failures of the steel piles at the head of the wharf that needed to be addressed this year.

“The wharf needs a lot of repair,” he said. “Some of the aspects of it are at end-of-life. That’s why there are weight restrictions on it now and we’re looking to repair that with the least amount of impact with the most amount of gain on longevity.”

McKelvey said he understands the importance of the wharf to the community — including the aesthetic value.

Chief Administrative Officer Chris Spear speaks to residents about the proposed options for the wharf and square at an open house.

“There are a lot of easy engineering decisions … we don’t want to put a square peg in a round hole.”

Fundy Engineering has handled several projects in this region, including geotechnical engineering for the Kingsbrae Garden Amphitheatre and geotechnical and civil engineering for the removal of the Milltown Dam.

McKelvey said the feedback at the meeting was good.

“I tried to answer as many questions as I could,” he said. “Hopefully, overall, people understand that we took into account that we’re not just trying to solve a problem, we’re trying to create something.”

Laurel Austin has lived seasonally in Saint Andrews for a little more than two decades.

She said the options have given her a lot to digest, including how the expansion of Market Square interacts with sea-level rise.

“The engineer was actually saying it could be better, so that was comforting,” she said.

Austin is a professor in Ontario and has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a method known as Engineering With Nature.

“The idea is rather than have a flat concrete wall, you have a wall, but then you’ve got texture built up and it is more natural and it is a place where little sea creatures start to live and grow,” she said.

She said she’ll be taking time to consider the options.

“We all have ideas, but it’s hard to know what we’ll come up with if we have more space,” she said.

The council has vowed to do more consultation on how it plans to move the wharf refurbishment project forward after facing criticisms last year.

Mayor-elect Steve Neil was one of the only members of the previous council to oppose the original design. 

“I was really pleased with the turnout,” he said. “We weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but I think the crowd was engaged.”

For Neil, the biggest change is in the engineering firm’s approach to the infill. Under the previous design, adding more infill reduced the cost, this project applies the opposite.

According to documents obtained by The Courier through a Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act request, staff made a request to the Department of Environment and Local Government (ELG) in January 2024 saying it “would also like to infill Market Square to create more usable space.”

On the same day, it would request that the infill be extended by 40 metres. The council faced criticism about that expansion, but also the lack of a visioning exercise. One was completed by Trace, a Moncton-based firm.

Neil said the council will continue to have public meetings throughout the process.

“We certainly want to be out in front of it, this is a good start,” he said. 

He explained he has no current preference for the option the public chooses.

“I have continually said that if we are going to expand Market Square, we should know why we’re doing it,” he said. “Council, I think has the opportunity, where this is scheduled for 2027, if we do decide that we’re going to expand Market Square then we have time to sit down and do that visioning exercise and decide exactly what we want it to look like and hopefully get these drawings out again and have public sessions.” 

Construction is expected to take place on the head of the wharf in the fall. McKelvey said the next step is to meet again with council on the feedback and move forward with new renderings.

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