Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman has been joined by Councilman and Parks Commissioner Vinny Bellino to announce that the Borough has awarded a $2.1 million contract for construction of a pier extension at Waterfront Park to Atlantic Subsea, Inc.. The Bridgeport based marine construction company will build the 700’ pier extension southward from Waterfront Park’s Veterans’ Memorial Fishing Pier, along with additional enhancements to the existing structure.
The project will serve both as an additional resource for passive recreation and a breakwater for the park’s future marina, which will represent Phase III of the Waterfront Park development.
Atlantic Subsea is one of the largest marine companies in the northeast United States, having pioneered the marine engineering field for several years and expanding knowledge of the marine industry. The firm has been accredited as the source of many technical and procedural innovations within its field. Based in Bridgeport, New Jersey, Atlantic Subsea has direct access to major ports and waterfront agencies on the eastern seaboard, with extensive experience in underwater and marine engineering and certification by Lloyds, Det Noske Veritas, ABS, and Federal and State Government Agencies.
Having recently obtained federal permits for the pier extension project, the Borough has also submitted an application to the NJDEP for the construction of the marina. Once completed the marina project will host up to 276 slips and various amenities for regional boaters, as well as additional recreational resources and local Port Authority facilities.
To date, millions in state and county appropriations have been expended on the development of Waterfront Park, the single largest parks development project in Carteret’s history. As the site of the town’s now annual Independence Day Festival and its “Concerts by the Bay” series, Waterfront Park has become a regional attraction. Currently the 17 acre park hosts nature trails, exercise stations, a children’s play area, a gazebo/bandstand, miniature golf, a boat launch, putting green, and sensory garden.
Other plans for the town’s formerly abandoned waterfront properties include the establishment of a transit village. The mixed-use community, still early in its planning stages, will include luxury condominiums and a boardwalk with restaurants and retail shops. The development will lie adjacent to the Borough’s future public transit ferry, offering traffic-free commuter access to Manhattan.
The pending pier extension project has been designed to allow for greater usage of the Borough’s waterfront property resource, also providing for mooring bollards to be constructed along the existing pier head, allowing larger recreational boats and cruise lines to pick up and drop off passengers.
Through the planning and design phases of the project, the Borough has received input from local public interest groups including the Carteret Port Authority and regional boating and fishing clubs to determine the needs of the marina and associated pier extension and mooring bollards. The project has received approval from numerous permitting agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, NJDEP Land Use Regulation Program and the United States Coast Guard.
“This pier extension project is the doorstep to Waterfront Park’s marina,” Mayor Reiman commented, “and its continuing evolution. A major part of our vision for the Waterfront is to tie it in to the greater region through accommodations for commercial and recreational boaters, and a future terminal for commuters heading to or from Manhattan. The pier extension will serve as a new resource for passive recreation, and pave the way for continuing improvements to this former brownfields area.”
“The Waterfront pier extension will be one of many chapters in the development of this formerly abandoned area,” Councilman and Parks Commissioner Vinny Bellino added. “It has been wonderful to see so many of our plans for this park manifested, and new resources for recreation established in a town that relies heavily on its network of parks.”
