As part of the City of Philadelphia’s waterfront improvement plan, the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC) brought on Urban Engineers to conduct the Bartram’s Fishing Pier Feasibility Study and Final Design.

The project explored the feasibility of constructing a fishing pier at Bartram’s Garden, located along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Urban conducted inspections of two abandoned piers situated near the entrance of the Schuylkill River Trail at 49th Street and Botanic Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. After completing underwater inspections, Urban developed conceptual designs for both the structures and the trail, including estimated costs for evaluation. The client's objective was to save money by potentially reusing elements from one of the piers in the vicinity. Therefore, a detailed study was conducted on both piers to determine their feasibility for reuse.

The Bartram’s Fishing Pier project involved several stages, each critical to delivering a revitalized fishing pier that would be both functional and beneficial to the community.
 

Based on the feasibility study report, SRDC elected to proceed with designing a new fishing pier at the southern site, kicking off a challenging design phase. The pier is located in the floodway, so it needed to be built strong enough to handle powerful floodwaters during a 100-year storm. This type of storm is rare and has only a 1% chance of happening in any given year, but the pier had to be designed to withstand the extreme conditions that would come with such a storm. The shallow bedrock and poor overlying soils added to the design challenges, limiting the achievable capacity of driven piles.

Urban tackled these challenges with cast-in-place reinforced concrete piles. This method involves pouring concrete directly into drilled holes on-site. Reinforced with steel bars or mesh, the concrete gains substantial strength. These long columns extend from soft ground to solid bedrock, anchoring securely and ensuring a stable foundation for the structure above.

Urban assisted SRDC with obtaining local, state, and federal permits for the construction. While the permitting was more straightforward than the design, the permit conditions did initially pose their own challenges: the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) restricted construction to a brief 3-month window to protect overwintering turtles in the area, while Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) required that costly special inspections be performed offsite, at the fabrication shop of an American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) accredited fabricator. To ease the schedule, Urban commissioned a study demonstrating that turtles were absent in the area and negotiated with PADEP to relax the seasonal restrictions.

To save inspection costs, Urban worked with AISC to petition L&I to accept AISC accreditation as an exemption from the code requirement for special inspection. After hearings with the Board of Building Standards, Urban succeeded in getting L&I to amend its regulations under the Philadelphia Code.

With the design complete and permits in hand, Urban helped SRDC to put the project out to bid and select a contractor. Urban managed the construction from start to finish, performing critical inspection tasks and special inspections for pile drilling, reinforcement and concrete placement, welding, and steel erection.

After several years of persistent effort and multiple hurdles, the Bartram Fishing Pier opened to the public in the fall of 2022.

Bartram's Pier was essential for new recreational opportunities, enhanced community engagement, and offered educational resources about local ecosystems and conservation efforts. The pier continues to positively impact the local economy by attracting visitors and tourists, benefiting nearby businesses, and creating jobs. Additionally, it enriches Bartram's Garden's cultural and historical significance by offering a unique perspective of the site and providing safe and accessible riverfront access for residents and visitors.

Highlights

• Underwater Condition Inspections
• Study of Feasibility and Reuse of Multiple Sites
• Trail Design
• Eased Seasonal Environmental Restrictions
• Special Inspections Cost Savings
• Challenging Geotechnical Conditions and Flood Loads