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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	November, 2007	Return to newsletter index

New hoists at Camp Ellis pier

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This is one of the retrofitted hoists at the end of Camp Ellis Pier.

The City recently completed installation of two new hoists at the Camp Ellis Pier. These will be used by commercial fishermen, lobstermen, and other pier users to handle equipment, bait, catch, and other items.

The new hoists replace two units which were installed in 1997 as part of a major overhaul of the dock facilities. This project included three hoists, two had 1000 lb. capacities and the third was set up for 2000 lbs. These were equipped with an electric winch but the boom swing and lateral movement was manual. While this system was adequate for the loads involved, the manual swing and lateral travel was difficult and not popular with the users. As these units aged repairs became more frequent and costly.

The Coastal Waters Commission decided to look at the problems and either overhaul or replace the hoists. The commission wanted to make the best decision possible for this project and sought to thoroughly investigate what types of hoists were in use at other locations and obtain as much input from the users. After reviewing the data it was decided that replacement was the best option. The plan was to replace the two 1000lb hoists with hydraulically powered units with motorized lift and swing and 90 feet per minute winch speed. These were to be constructed from materials which could tolerate the marine environment. It became apparent very quickly that these would not be available as an "off the shelf" item and custom design and fabrication would be required to meet these specifications.

OEST Associates, a Consulting Engineer had assisted in the review process and was retained to design the hoists and oversee the fabrication and installation. A design was developed which included galvanized and stainless steel construction, hydraulic operation, pendent controls to facilitate use by a single person, electrical connections, required safety features, and an adjustable boom.

The commission reviewed and approved the design and the project went to bid. The proposal included fabrication, installation, and start up of each hoist. Physical Engineering LLC of Portland Maine got the job and successfully constructed, installed, and performed a start up on each hoist. At the time of this writing the hoists are in service with only minor items remaining for full completion of the job.

This project received partial funding from a Maine Department of Transportation Small Harbors Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant. This program is designed to assist coastal communities like Saco maintain and improve publicly-owned waterfront facilities and related infrastructure. This was particularly useful in this project because it was essentially a custom design and fabrication for Camp Ellis Pier. As a result costs were high and totaled more than $86,000. The grant reduced the city share of this project to $22,750.00.