Index of Post Road Review Columns Concerning Niantic Bay Boardwalk Reconstruction Nov. 2010 thru Dec. 2016

Index of Post Road Review Columns Concerning Niantic Bay Overlook Reconstruction Nov. 2010 thru Dec. 2016

A log of the reconstruction history of the Niantic Bay Overlook Park (a.k.a. The Niantic Bay Boardwalk and Beach) is documented in this table of monthly columns published by the Post Road Review (PRR) newspaper. Copy right permission was granted by PRR to the East Lyme Public Trust Foundation, Inc. that allows it to reproduce the columns listed below. These columns were authored by a member of the Foundation in order to keep the public informed of progress in the six year process of rebuilding the eastern and western halves of the public park. Reconstruction of the eastern half was required of Amtrak by the federal and state governments as conditions of the environmental permits required by the federal and state agencies that reviewed the proposed Amtrak bridge replacement project. Federal monies were provided through the Federal Railroad Administration, as authorized by the US Congress, which paid for the work. Mistakes in the design and construction of the western half of the Boardwalk resulted in storm damage sustained by several storms between 2005 and about 2010. As a result, redesign and reconstruction of the western half of the Boardwalk was undertaken by the Town of East Lyme. The dedication of the East Lyme Public Trust Foundation, Inc. to support and protect the park was of significant important and served to foster and enable this important community project in the Public Trust to be accomplished and sustained.The log of reconstruction activity follows in the monthly accounts of work undertaken by Amtrak (1 -30) on the eastern half of Overlook Park (a.k.a. the Boardwalk) between November, 2010 and August 2013, and by the town of East Lyme (31-55) on the western half of the Boardwalk between November, 2013 and December, 2016.To view any of the 55 listed accounts below, click on the date of the publication in the Sorting Column.

Sorting of 54 PRR Columns Primary Subject of Each Column 1 - PRR November 2010 Placement of concrete sheet pile seawall. 2 - PRR December 2010 Temp. dock built for barge shipments of stone. 3 - PRR January 2011 Project x-section typical design of all parts is defined. 4 - PRR February 2011 Foundation construction of bascule pier and operator's house. 5 - PRR March 2011 Early construction of the eastern stone terminal groin. 6 - PRR May 2011 April 2010 aerial photograph of original Boardwalk dismantling. 7 - PRR June 2011 Beach sand being trapped by the terminal groin. 8 - PRR August 2011 Sea wall and surveillance video pole construction. 9 - PRR September 2011 Patterned wall surface construction along the walkway. 10 - PRR October 2011 First section of the walkway is seen as of September 9, 2011. 11 - PRR November 2011 Fabricated of bascule bridge structural steel in Alabama. 12 - PRR February 2012 Overview of the project site from the bridge control tower. 13 - PRR March 2012 Creation of a new 9± ac. Sand beach along the walkway. 14 - PRR April 2012 Replacement of catenary poles. 15 - PRR May 2012 Hurricane of 1938 damage along Niantic Bay shoreline. 16 - PRR June 2012 Ariel view of the growing new beach along the walkway. 17 - PRR July 2012 Comparison of the old with the new Niantic River RR Bridge. 18 - PRR August 2012 View of old and new RR bridges and recycled Boardwalk fencing. 19 - PRR September 2012 Aerial view of stone groin construction. 20 - PRR October 2012 View of the RR patterned retaining wall & security fence. 21 - PRR November 2012 View of the new beach from atop the RR bridge control tower. 22 - PRR December 2012 View of Overlook Beach, the Boardwalk and Storm Sandy damage. 23 - PRR January 2013 Storm Sandy sediment transport on the newly created beach. 24 - PRR February 2013 Full extent of the new beach and groin at Overlook Park. 25 - PRR March 2013 View of Boardwalk underpass from Cini Park as of 2/4/2013. 26 - PRR April 2013 View of ramp from Boardwalk to the new beach on 3/3/2013. 27 - PRR May 2013 View of one of two video camera Boardwalk surveillance poles. 28 - PRR June 2013 Original entry sign as of May 3, 2013. 29 - PRR July 2013 Eastern half of the Boardwalk as seen on 6/7/2013. 30 - PRR August 2013 Aerial views of the original (2010) vs. the new (2013) beach. 31 - PRR November 2014 Reconstruction started on the western half of the Boardwalk. 32 - PRR December 2014 Pile driving a steel bulkhead created a seawall along the elevated walkway. 33 - PRR January 2015 Bulkhead sheeting is protected from storm waves by rip rap stone armorer. 34 - PRR February 2015 The project “revetment” is a key feature of the Boardwalk defined here. 35 - PRR March 2015 Bulkhead extends 1,842 feet at the point depicted in this photograph. 36 - PRR April 2015 Elevation differences of 5’ are shown between the new and old Boardwalk. 37 - PRR May 2015 Boardwalk elevation 12.9’ compares to 10.9 ‘ 100 year flood elevation. 38 - PRR June 2015 Realignment of a short segment of the steel bulkhead is seen here. 39 - PRR July 2015 The use of rebars to tie together bulkhead and Boardwalk is depicted. 40 - PRR August 2015 Pouring 30/35’ long reinforced concrete walkway slabs is depicted here. 41 - PRR September 2015 Cyclone fencing, sidewalk, and bulwark wall cap interrelationships are shown. 42 - PRR October 2015 Pouring sidewalk segments near the vicinity of Skippers Restaurant. 43 - PRR November 2015 Surveying the extent of naturally colonized beach vegetation by the Boardwalk. 44 - PRR December 2015 Progress on the east and west Boardwalk 43 months after work began. 45 - PRR January 2016 Taken 12/4/2016, pouring the last concrete slab at Hole in the Wall. 46 - PRR February 2016 The rededication monument which credits those responsible for the project. 47 - PRR March 2016 Final completion schedule of the Boardwalk and new west end info. signs. 48 - PRR April 2016 Installing guard-rails and a walk from the Boardwalk to McCook Point Park. 49 - PRR May 2016 April 9, 2016, the planting of American Beach Grass along the Boardwalk. 50 - PRR June 2016 Photo location of the former Niantic train station and its commemorative sign. 51 - PRR July 2016 Photo of the reconstruction commemorative monument and a work summary. 52 - PRR August 2016 Brief progress report of the American Beach Grass experiment after 94 days. 53 - PRR September 2016 A report on the history of the Boardwalk and an estimate of 100,000 visits/yr. 54 - PRR October 2016 An elevated eastward view of the 1.1 mile long Boardwalk. 55 - PRR December 2016 The revised east end entry sign of the Boardwalk and a brief project history.