WARRENTON — City commissioners on Tuesday approved a contract with Bergerson Construction for a piling replacement project at the E Dock, a step toward improving critical infrastructure at the Warrenton Marina.

In January, the Warrenton Marina conducted an evaluation of the E Dock’s piles after two of the pier dock piles failed. The evaluation found that 13 piles on the main dock were also in critical condition and at risk of failing. They replaced three of these piles, along with the two failed pier dock piles.

Under the new contract, the plan is to replace the remaining piles sometime within the next year. Jessica McDonald, the city’s harbormaster, told city commissioners the projected cost is $105,599 – well within the marina’s $200,000 capital improvement budget for the project. She added that the marina also recently entered a contract with Campbell Environmental to receive permits to replace failing piles in other locations, including the Hammond Marina. The hope is to replace 10 piles per year over the next five years.

“Normally when a pile fails, there’s not a whole lot we can do because DSL (Department of State Lands) and the Army Corps of Engineers, they don’t issue emergency permits for aging infrastructure, and all of our infrastructure is aging, so this is a really huge movement we’ve made and we’re excited about the progress we’re doing,” McDonald said.