The walkover reconstruction contract has been awarded to H&H Custom Decks Enterprises. H&H provided the lowest cost proposal and has a reputation for quality workmanship. Their proposed construction methods should minimize environmental risk. H&H is the company that originally built the walkovers.
Work should commence the week of May 18th, pending receipt of permits, and start with the Beach Club walkover. We anticipate contractor mobilization will be complete and permits will have cleared the Texas General Land Office by that time. Phase 1 of the project will repair the seven walkovers that extend from the Cottages to the Ocean Club Villas. We’re working with the City of Galveston to evaluate options for Phase 2 (the two westernmost walkovers) given the high cost to repair the public walkover and the low usage of both walkovers.
A value engineering process, which included input from the engineer and contractors, determined that the most cost effective and structurally sound way to correct problems with unlevel walkovers was to replace sections that were out of limits. Hurricane Ike’s high wind forces against the large “sail area” of the walkovers lifted many pilings out of their original location in the sand. When the pilings settled after the storm they were not in the same place. Value engineering determined that demolition and replacement was more cost effective than piece meal foundation repair given the high labor costs associated with shoring and partial disassembly.
Walkover sections being replaced will be structurally improved. Existing 4” x 4” pilings will be replaced with 4” x 6” (or 6” x 6” in select areas) pilings. The pile depth is being increased from 5’ to 8’ to improve resistance to sideward wind forces. For walkovers where the seaward end is being replaced, the elevation of the seaward termination is being decreased from ~10’ to ~6’ to reduce “sail area” and resulting wind forces during a storm. Damaged decorative “eyeballs” in the balusters are being replaced with standard balusters.
There are sections of walkovers that are not level but meet industry standard tolerances. These sections are not being replaced to conserve funds. There are also sections of walkovers that will be more susceptible to future storm damage because we’re not replacing the pilings and some of the sand has washed away. The loss of sand has reduced piling embedment depth and will therefore leave the affected walkover more susceptible to high wind forces.
The Beach Club walkover should take 3 to 4 weeks to complete. A schedule for all the walkovers will be disseminated once work has started.
Alan Wilde
