Berth expansion work underway on Charlottetown waterfront

Work has started along the Charlottetown waterfront to extend the port's berth and allow more than one ship to dock at a time.

Only one ship can be tied up at a time now, but this workwill allow two 300-metre ships to dock at once, says business development manager Corryn Clemence.

"The work that's being done now is so that we will be able to tie up two vessels at one time."

Anyone walking on the waterfront from the seaport to the convention centre will notice metal pilessticking out of the water.

A crane on a barge has been driving the pilesinto the seabed so ships can tie up. There will be 43 of them.

'Will be well below the surface'

There will also be two mooring buoys to tie up the vessels further out, and three breasting dolphins, which help berth the ships.

The dolphins will be toward Confederation Landing Park, and another will eventually be installed on the eastern side of the berth, Clemence said.

The mooring buoys are near the large 2018 sign.

"You see them sticking out now. Those eventually will be well below the surface. That's just to get the anchor points so we can tie to them," Clemence said.

Work will run until at least next fall

The pilings will be 24 metres long in the water, including just over three metres (10 feet)below the sea bottom. They should be underwater by the time it freezes, she said.

"This is kind of the first stage that people will start to see. They've been mobilizing in the yard here, getting everything ready."

Work on the berth is not expected to be completed until the fall of 2019, at the earliest.

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