Corps To Start Work On Fountain City Service Base

The St. Paul Engineer District is scheduled to begin construction next month at its Fountain City (Wis.) Service Base.

The Corps recently awarded a $10.2 million contract to Newt Marine Service, Dubuque, Iowa, for mooring dolphin replacement, and an $18.6 million contract to Kraemer North America of Plain, Wis., for the design-build of a straight-line mooring solution at the service base, which is located in Pool 5A of the Upper Mississippi River.

The Fountain City Service Base Sustainment and Modernization Project is a two-phase project to improve the function and safety throughout the service base. 

Phase 1 will include replacing severely deteriorated mooring dolphins on the west side of the Fountain City harbor channel. The St. Paul District anticipates construction of replacement mooring dolphins to begin in April.

Phase 2 will include straightening of the existing harbor wall, leveling the grade at the service base, adding two crane cells and updating electrical and water infrastructure. Construction on Phase 2 is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2022 and could continue through the fall of 2024.

“The project is a very important opportunity to modernize and upgrade the Fountain City Service Base with safer and more efficient infrastructure,” said Rob Maroney, Corps of Engineers project manager. “The Fountain City Service Base supports navigation up and down the Mississippi River.”