Photos: Crescent City Harbor's H Dock took the brunt of the energy from Kamchatka tsunami that struck early July 30. | Photo courtesy of Mike Rademaker Updated at 3:44 p.m. Tuesday: H Dock is level again, Crescent City Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday. Commissioner Rick Shepherd manned his boat and donated his crew to pump water into totes, creating a counterbalance force to relieve the strain from the "stacked-domino" arrangement left by last months' tsunami. This was the strategy Moffatt & Nichol Vice President Rob Sloop recommended at a special meeting on Aug. 8, according to Rademaker. "While it will likely be a year or more before power and water service are restored, the dock is at least usable," he said via text message, adding that the Dandy Fish Company donated the totes. "Currently, Harbor District crew is on site using sledgehammers to flatten the damaged metal hinges so the dock can remain serviceable until permanent repairs are made." #### Original Post: Restoring electricity and water service after last month’s tsunami will require more extensive repairs, but harbor commissioners on Wednesday endorsed a plan to make H Dock safe for boats again. The repair plan comes from structural engineer David Harder, who walked the docks with Harbormaster Mike Rademaker and Commissioner Annie Nehmer about a week after the Kamchatka tsunami struck Crescent City early July 30. On Wednesday, Nehmer told her colleagues that Harder’s suggestion for making H Dock level again was similar to a proposed course of action Moffatt & Nichol Vice President Rob Sloop suggested to the Board on Aug. 8. “He agreed that Rob’s way to solve the issue with 55-gallon drums would work,” Nehmer said, adding that Harder wasn’t able to stay for Wednesday’s meeting, but gave her a few talking points. “Those docks require between 1,100 and 1,700 pounds to create the shift needed to release the plates and he said maybe two drums on each quarter [of the dock] would do that.” Nehmer said the structural engineer didn’t want to be involved in the repairs needed to make H Dock functional again and that Moffatt & Nichol “seem more than capable of handling this.” “He wanted to see what happened with his design and whether it held up or not,” she said. “And this is his assessment.” Built after the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Crescent City’s tsunami-resistant marina lived up to its name, except for H Dock. Consisting of 10 floats held together by steel plates, H Dock lies across the harbor entrance and took the brunt of the energy from the July 30 tsunami, according to Harder’s report. While there were no visible cracks, several floats were tilted along the length of the dock so much so that it is out of service and “generates no revenue for the district,” Harder’s report states. “One float is badly tilted and jammed into position by steel plate joints at each end,” Harder stated. “Restoring this float to level will require the majority of work to level all five floats.” Harder suggested using CCHD staff or a local fishing vessel to do that work or, to avoid liability, engage Moffatt & Nichol to make the repairs. “He did say Rob’s solution of using 55-gallon drums with a hosing pump would be very effective, then you’d slowly lower that down,” Nehmer said. In addition to reaching consensus on doing the work needed to make the dock level again in-house, four commissioners ratified an emergency proclamation Rademaker made due to the tsunami. Rademaker’s emergency proclamation mentions an initial damage assessment of $1 million. On Wednesday, he defended that assessment saying the agency only had a 10-day window to make its best estimate and that several engineers, including representatives from CalOES had examined the docks. “I think that is a reasonably accurate figure because the Army Corps of Engineers [said] even if it was the dredging, that could be $1 million on its own,” Rademaker said. The Crescent City Harbor District does have an emergency plan, but it’s part of the harbor patrol manual and isn’t specific to tsunamis, the harbormaster said. Nehmer abstained from the vote to ratify the emergency proclamation, questioning whether or not the Harbor District had procedures in place for responding to a tsunami. However, later in the meeting, she joined her colleagues in approving potentially tapping into Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars to conduct the additional assessments that Rademaker said was needed. This includes bathymetric studies and underwater surveys to assess the condition of the utility wiring and other infrastructure that’s not on the surface, Rademaker said. The harbormaster has been working with Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr, which manages the port’s HMGP dollars, on how to tap into funding quickly to do the assessments and make the repairs. “Fortunately we’re in a pretty good position with this HMGP grant, which so happens to align with some of the things we need to do,” Rademaker told commissioners. “And we reached out to CalOES and they [said] they didn’t have an objection to using the funds in this fashion so, since it could be a large expenditure of money, we want to make sure the Board’s supportive of that usage of it.” The Harbor District has about $800,000 in unallocated HMGP grant dollars available, Bahr said, though he and Rademaker didn’t ask the Board of Commissioners to approve a specific amount Wednesday. Meanwhile, Commissioner Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman, said he felt there was no reason the Harbor District couldn’t do the initial H Dock repairs in-house. Though Rademaker began the discussion by discouraging people from venturing out onto the beleaguered dock, Shepherd said once the pressure is relieved “it’s very safe.” Shepherd added that he estimated it would take about two years to restore power and water and “make the dock better,” but CCHD needed to allow boats to tie back up to the dock “so we can start generating income.” Rademaker said if someone outside of the organization was willing to conduct those repairs, CCHD would have them sign a liability waiver to address the safety concerns and then “would be willing to help out.” Nehmer said that she and her colleagues would have to discuss a decrease in mooring fees since CCHD can’t offer electricity or water service.