H O U S E . . . . No. 299
Cfie CommontoealtJ) of Massachusetts
SPECIAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COMMISSION ACTING AS A JOINT BOARD RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY ALONG THE WATERFRONT IN BEACHMONT SECTION OF THE CITY OF REVERE.
[Harbors and Public Lands.]
M etropolitan D i s t r i c t C o m m i s s i o n , 20 Som erset Street, Boston, December 5, 1934.
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of Massa chusetts in General Court assembled. On June 29, 1934, the following resolve, chapter 47, was approved by the Governor:
Resolved, That the department of public works and the metropolitan district commission, acting as a joint board, are hereby authorized and directed to investigate the conditions causing the erosion of the shore and the flooding of adjacent property along the waterfront in the Beachmont section of the city of Revere with a view to deter mining the best means of relieving or improving said conditions by the construction of breakwaters, sea walls or other shore protection, or otherwise. In this connection said board shall consider the subject matter of current house documents numbered two hundred and eighty and five hundred and sixty. Said board shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and its recommendations, if any, with plans and estimates and manner of apportionment of the cost of any work or improvements recommended by it, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry such recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerk of the house of representatives on or before the first Wednesday in December in the current year, and shall at the same time file a copy of said report with the budget commis sioner.
The Joint Board has investigated the conditions caus ing the erosion of the shore and the flooding of adjacent property in the Beachmont section of Revere, with a view to determining the best means of relieving or improving these conditions by the construction of breakwaters, sea walls or other shore protection, or otherwise. The Board has also considered the subject matter of current House Document No. 280 and House Document No. 560. House Document No. 280 is as follows:
The department of public works is hereby authorized and directed to construct a breakwater or other means of protection for the property along the water front from a point off the so-called Roughan’s point section of Beachmont in the city of Revere to a point off the shores of Winthrop, to be determined by said department in accordance with plans and specifications to be made under its direction. Said de partment may expend such sums as may be appropriated for said purposes.
House Document No. 560 provides as follows:
S e c t io n 1. For the purpose of protecting property of the metro politan district commission and other shore property in the city of Revere, the department of public works is hereby authorized and directed to construct a breakwater at a location in the vicinity of the Cherry Island bar, easterly of the shore in said city, or in such other location as said department may deem advisable. A sum not ex ceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars as may hereafter be appropriated by the commonwealth shall constitute a fund for the work herein authorized. S e c t io n 2. The expenditures made from funds appropriated by the commonwealth as aforesaid shall be paid as follows: One half from the general fund or revenue of the commonwealth and one half from the metropolitan parks district.
The waterfront in the Beachmont section referred to in the resolve is generally known as Roughan’s Point. Along the shore at this point for a distance of about 1,800 feet, extending from the Cherry Island Bar to the TV inthrop Parkway sea wall, is a mound of beach pebbles and rocks some 10 to 15 feet high. Behind this beach mound and to the west the land is low. This low area lies between Broad Sound Avenue and Winthrop Parkway on the easterly side of the parkway, and on the westerly side of the parkway is bounded by Leverett Avenue, Endicott Avenue, the state highway, and Revere Beach Parkway. This low area which has been considerably developed and built upon is flooded at times of extreme high tides and storms. Formerly the shore line at Roughan’s Point extended farther to the east. The beach mound has been gradually moved westerly by the action of the water at times of storms, and during the last twenty years has receded from 20 to 100 feet. The cottages which formerly stood on the waterfront east of Broad Sound Avenue have been de stroyed, and those that now remain have been damaged by the storms of recent years and will not withstand many more storms unless protection is provided. From the investigation made it appears that not only does the water pass over the beach mound at Roughan’s Point, but it also passes through the mound at extreme high tides, flooding the area between Broad Sound Avenue and Winthrop Parkway. The water also passes through the embankment of the parkway and over the parkway at its junction with Leverett Avenue, flooding the section to the west of the parkway. Unless some form of shore protection is provided the remaining buildings on Roughan’s Point will in the future be destroyed, the beach mound will be moved farther westerly and become gradually lower, and in a few years some protection will be necessary to prevent encroach ment on Winthrop Parkway. If the sole damage of the water was to the property on Roughan’s Point there is some question if the value of this property would warrant the expenditure of the large sum of money required for its protection, but it will also be necessary to provide protection for the parkway itself and for the property to the west of the parkway. 5 IO-W 3
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It therefore appears that there are three points which must be considered in connection with the protection of Roughan’s Point: First, the houses which are located on the point should be protected from further damage. Second, the Winthrop Parkway should be protected, either by protecting Roughan’s Point, and thereby pro tecting the parkway, or, if the buildings on Roughan’s Point are allowed to be destroyed, the parkway must ultimately be protected along or close to the easterly sideline of the roadway. Third, the buildings located westerly of Winthrop Parkway should be protected from flood waters during periods of extreme high tides. A breakwater could be constructed for a distance of about 1,800 feet southerly from the existing Cherry Island Bar at an estimated cost of $275,000. Such a breakwater would probably afford protection to the exist ing buildings on Roughan’s Point, but it would have a tendency to cause erosion of material from the exposed section of the existing sea wall along the easterly side of W inthrop Parkway southerly of the proposed break water. The material would be washed into the protected area behind the breakwater, from which area it would not be washed back by storms in a different direction, and the existing sea wall that extends along the parkway from Leverett Avenue, Revere, to Sewall Avenue, Winthrop, w'ould ultimately be undermined and destroyed. Further more, the construction of a breakwater will not affect in any way the height of the tide. It will diminish the volume of water passing over the beach mound at Roughan’s Point, but it will not prevent water from pass ing through the beach mound and through the Winthrop Parkway embankment, and thereby flooding the low areas to the west of the mound and the parkway. For these reasons a breakwater is not the best form of protection for this location. The proper solution of the problem would seem to be some form of tight barrier along the outer side of Roughan’s Point located from 130 to 200 feet easterly' of Broad Sound Avenue. This tight barrier might consist of either interlocking steel sheet piling driven to a point below the plane of low water and carried to a point about 22 feet above low water, or, prefer ably, the steel sheet piling might be driven with the same penetration, that is, to a point below mean low water, and a concrete wall constructed above the steel sheet piling where the same is exposed to the action of the elements. Whichever type of construction is used it will be neces sary to place a substantial amount of heavy stone riprap in front of the structure throughout its entire length, and it will be desirable to fill the area in back of the wall to an elevation slightly below the top of the same. No borings were taken in the course of the investiga tion along the site of the wall, to determine the type of material that would be encountered, but, judging by conditions found in other foundation work constructed in the locality, it is probable that a tight barrier of steel sheet piling or other tight sheeting will be necessary to prevent the movement of water through the existing beach mound during periods of extreme high tide. The assessed valuation of land and buildings along Broad Sound Avenue waterfront from Pier View Avenue to Leverett Avenue is $108,500. This is the section di rectly facing the proposed shore protection. The total assessed valuation of land and buildings easterly of Win- throp Parkway is $301,100. The assessed valuation of land and buildings westerly of Winthrop Parkway in the flooded area is $1,105,400. The total valuation affected is $1,406,500. As shown on the plan filed herewith the section between Pier View Avenue and Leverett Avenue is subdivided into lots. Some of these lots are located outside the present mean high-water line, and assessments on many of these lots have been abolished. The lots in this area still assessed by the city of Revere are given a valuation of $15,800. Many of these lots would be in the line of the proposed construction, and it will be desirable to acquire any such existing land and riparian rights, an estimate for which has been included in the construction estimates. The estimated cost of constructing a bulkhead of inter locking steel sheet piling 1,800 feet in length, connecting with the existing sea wall along the easterly side of the Winthrop Parkway at the southerly end, and extending northerly to anchor on the beach mound at the inner side of Cherry Island Bar, with riprap to be placed along the sea face of the bulkhead and the area back of the same to be filled, is $135,000. A more durable and attractive type of construction would be, as previously stated, to drive the interlocking steel sheet piling and cut off below the surface of the beach, constructing a concrete sea wall above the same. This type of construction would have the further advan tage that the outer face would be curved and lipped, thereby throwing back much of the water in times of storm, and preventing it from washing over the top of the wall. The estimated cost of this type of construction is $170,000. Filed herewith is a plan showing the location of pro posed sea wall along Roughan’s Point with sketches of the two types of construction, also an assessor’s block plan of the section of Revere known as Roughan’s Point, The Joint Board recommends that the type of sea wall above described, with steel sheet piling, with concrete wall above the level of the beach, be constructed at a cost of $170,000, and it recommends that the cost be appor tioned, one-half on the State, one-quarter on the Metro politan Parks District, and one-quarter on the city of Revere. A bill to carry these recommendations into effect is appended hereto. FRANK E. LYMAN, RICHARD K. HALE, WILLIAM F. CALLAHAN, Department of Public Works.
DAVIS B. IvENISTON,, WM. F. ROGERS, MELVIN B. BREATH, FELIX A. MARCELLA, JOSEPH B. JACOBS, Metropolitan District Commission. TOP____Off____ CONCHliTE
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7-S- ROUGHANS POINT TO WINTHROP TOWN LINE O.fi
DEPARTM ENT OF PUBLIC WORKS OF MASSACHUSETTS
JANUARY 4934- S C A L E I = 2 0 0 0
DISTRICTi..«Tm rT lA/iTCOIAWATERWAYS e n g i n e e r p a R K W A V
WINTHROP
Cbc CommontiJcaltlj of Massachusetts
In the Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Five.
All Act providing for the Construction of a Sea Wall in the City of Revere.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre sentatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Se c t io n 1. The department of public w orks is 2 hereby authorized and directed to construct a sea wall 3 at Roughan’s Point in the Beachmont section of the 4 city of Revere, extending from the Cherry Island bar 5 to the existing sea wall on Winthrop parkway, and 6 said department, in the name of the commonwealth, 7 may take by eminent domain under chapter seventy- 8 nine of the General Laws, or acquire by purchase or 9 otherwise, any lands or interests therein necessary or 10 desirable for such purpose. No work shall be begun 11 hereunder until the city of Revere has contributed and 12 paid into the treasury of the commonwealth the sum 13 of forty-two thousand, five hundred dollars, which, 14 together with such sum, not exceeding one hundred 15 and twenty-seven thousand, five hundred dollars, as 16 may hereafter be appropriated by the commonwealth, 17 shall constitute a fund for the work herein authorized.
1 Se c t io n 2. The expenditures made from funds 2 appropriated by the commonwealth as aforesaid shall 3 be paid as follows: two thirds from the general fund or 4 revenue of the commonwealth, and one third by the 5 cities and towns of the metropolitan parks district, 6 including Revere, in proportion to the respective 7 taxable valuations of the property of said cities and 8 towns, as defined by section fifty-nine of chapter 9 ninety-two of the General Laws.
1 S e c t io n 3. For the purpose of meeting the pay- 2 ment of forty-two thousand, five hundred dollars 3 required to be paid by the city of Revere as aforesaid, 4 said city may borrow outside its limit of indebtedness 5 as fixed by law such sums as may be necessary, and 6 may issue bonds or notes therefor, which shall be 7 payable in not more than ten years; and such in- 8 debtedness shall, except as herein provided, be sub- 9 ject to chapter forty-four of the General Laws.