Ferry ridership is at an all-time high. Gate E at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal accommodates four ferry routes (Alameda, Oakland, Harbor Bay and South San Francisco), serving more than 10,000 passengers daily.
Photo by Joel Williams
BC STAFF REPORT
Published: February, 2018
Ferry ridership is at an all-time high. Gate E at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal accommodates four ferry routes (Alameda, Oakland, Harbor Bay and South San Francisco), serving more than 10,000 passengers daily. More than two million people travel by San Francisco Bay Ferry annually.
WETA’s Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal Expansion Project, now well underway, will increase the capacity to serve current and future passengers and improve the amenities around the terminal.
The two-year construction project is taking place in the Ferry Building’s south basin and includes building two new ferry gates and reconstructing the existing Gate E to support continued growth of the ferry system. Beautification and other amenities include the addition of weather canopies, a new plaza area, and extended promenades in keeping with the historic Ferry Building appearance.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2019 and includes two stages. Phase 1, which took place from May to November 2017, focused on preparing the site for construction, removal of existing piers and concrete, dredging the bay silt, and driving 153 new piles into the bay. Phase 2, which started last month and is expected to be completed in December 2019, will involve construction of the new gates and concrete pier.
In January, the contractor installed side forms for the promenade canopy beam and finished installing the rebar mats for the first deck pour completed later in the month. The contractor also continued forming what will be the foundation for the false work to support the promenade deck moving north toward the lagoon. The contractor successfully completed a concrete pour in which 14 piles were filled with concrete. Over the next several weeks the contractor’s crews are scheduled to continue installing concrete deck embeds, rebar, and prepare for the upcoming promenade deck pours.
From start to finish, all construction materials and debris will be delivered and removed by barge in order to keep traffic and roadways on Embarcadero clear. The project’s construction schedule minimizes the impact to the area’s marine species and protects the environment of the pier.
During construction, all routes currently operating through Gate E will continue to run as scheduled. At the completion of the project, each of the three ferry gates will have its own portal, access control gates and passenger gangways. This expansion will allow for additional ferry service, more routes, improved queuing and boarding areas, and extended staging areas for WETA to deliver emergency water transit services.
Construction materials and debris are being delivered and removed by barge in order to keep traffic and roadways on Embarcadero clear. Photo by Joel Williams
