Owner-Operator: Port of Friday Harbor 



Friday Harbor, Washington 



(Jack Fairweather, harbormaster) 



Designer: Reid, Middleton and Associates 

 Edmonds, Washiagton 



Fabricator: Polysintering, Inc. 



(manufactured pontoons) 

 Monroe, Washington 



Installer: American Pile Driving Co., Inc. 

 (assembled breakwater) 

 Everett, Washington 



The breakwater was assembled in Everett, Washington, and towed to the 

 site. 



(2) Performance. Boat wake seems to cause as much concern as wind 

 wave transmission. This response is not surprising, since the boating activ- 

 ity occurs more often in the milder seasons. Wind wave transmission on the 

 order of 1 foot is considered tolerable. 



Maintenance costs have been high. The structure was damaged extensively 

 in a storm on 7 December 1972, barely 2 months after the installation; 34 of 

 the pontoons cracked and came loose from the structure (21 on the outer row, 

 12 on the second row, and 1 on the third row), causing it to lose buoyancy. 

 The failures were due to material fatigue where the pontoons were supported by 

 the timber structure. Other pontoons have failed from similar causes. Recent 

 replacements have been with castings of Marlex plastic which have not shown 

 any sign of distress. Fifteen pontoons were replaced in the spring of 1980 at 

 a unit cost of .'?1,000. 



Plans are underway for aa enlarged harbor and replacement breakwater of 

 the concrete caisson type. The new breakwater is being designed by the U.S. 

 Army Engineer District, Seattle, and, if authorized, will be constructed by 

 the Corps of Engineers under Section 107 of the 1960 River and Harbor Act. 

 University of Washington is reviewing the design. 



d. Discussion. The performance of the breakwater has been less than 

 hoped for by the users. The main problems were associated with a design con- 

 figuration that relied on a material and fabrication technique which did not 

 produce the expected fatigue-resistant characteristics. There was a push to 

 get the breakwater into place and producing income, which overtightened the 

 design-construction schedule for such a novel and innovative concept. If the 

 proposed harbor expansion is authorized, the existing breakwater can be put to 

 good use for facilities within the harbor. 



6. Friday Harbor, Washington (University of Washington Oceanographic Labora- 

 tory) . 



a. Location. The University of Washington Oceanographic Laboratory break- 

 water is about a half mile north of the Port of Friday Harbor (Fig. 19). The 

 site is open to the east for about 3.5 nautical miles. The breakwater was 



39 



