Helping Bridge the Gap

Meeting the challenge of a difficult job.

The causeway bike path, located on the old railway bed crossing Lake Champlain between South Hero and Colchester, is believed to be the world’s longest bike path across water (Guinness World Record pending). The bike path is interrupted by a long since removed railway bridge requiring a ferry service operated by member owned, non-profit, Local Motion.

Demand for the ferry service has soared requiring bigger vessels and docks. So, amid heavy pedestrian traffic, harsh “off season” weather, 6 miles of one-way access, and underwater archeologically sensitive areas and other submerged obstacles, Kingsbury Companies set out to provide larger, more accommodating, docks and landings for Local Motion’s new 20 person ferry.

An Award Winning Project

Our work on this project resulted in Kingsbury Companies receiving the AVG Vermont Best Builders Award in 2016 for the “HEAVY INDUSTRIAL, SUBMARINE” category.

Excellence in project management.

Prior to construction, the owner, Local Motion, expressed concern about the budget and a number of functional problems with the design developed for the bid. The Kingsbury management team immediately began exploring Value Engineering options for Local Motion’s consideration. The effort resulted in a Design/Build solution that not only resolved the Owner’s concerns, but increased the usable dock areas while respecting permitted area and saved 10% on the overall budget for the non-profit group.

Innovation in construction techniques.

The as-bid design called for a dock with a separate wave attenuation device. The final design/build solution combined the two elements into a U shape configuration tied together with an underwater truss system. This feature nearly doubled the size of the useable dock while providing a 100’ wave shadow for steady docking of the 45’ commercial vessel in waves up to 4’ high. The design/build solution controls freeboard and provides rock steady boarding and handicap access, all while reducing cost. Bathymetric surveys and GPS technology were utilized to position adjustable anchoring points outside of archeologically sensitive areas.

Excellence in client service.

Through maximizing efficiencies, quality control, schedule management, and attention to detail, Kingsbury Companies empowered Local Motion with greater budget control resulting in savings that could be used to meet the demands of other program elements and operations. As a result, Local Motion was able to engage Kingsbury Companies to add covered gazebos, additional amenities, and work with Vermont Fish and Game on a new improved fishing access and scenic overlook.

Project’s contribution to the community.

The causeway bike path is a unique and valuable part of the recreational and transportation resources connecting the communities of Colchester and South Hero. Now, with a commercial sized ferry service, stable docking, handicapped access, and covered waiting areas, more pedestrians can safely commute and enjoy the entire causeway path across the lake in nearly all weather conditions. The project advances Local Motion’s goal of promoting people-powered transportation and recreation for healthy and sustainable Vermont communities by tripling the capacity of the causeway crossing.

Outstanding safety record.

For the duration of the diving portions of the project, the dive team consistently met requirements for redundancy, supervision, communication and reporting. A detailed traffic control plan was developed to assure pedestrian safety while backing trucks up for 6 miles in varying weather conditions to supply and remove material. There were zero accidents or injuries on this project.