SF’s plans to protect Embarcadero from earthquakes and sea-level rise could transform Ferry Building

The Port of San Francisco is releasing the first set of its proposals to protect the Embarcadero from earthquakes and sea-level rise — and one of them could raise the ferry building by several feet.

Much sooner than that — within a decade — parts of the Embarcadero will see deployable barriers to repel water already seeping across the road during particularly high tide. The piers below many of the existing piers will be modified or replaced. The sand will be installed below the dam blocking the bay next to Oracle Park.

These are among 23 “early projects” that will be submitted next week to the city’s port commission. It’s hardly the beginning of what needs to be done in the long term, but port officials say it is necessary to start preparing the 3.5-mile seawall between downtown and the bay to face dangers that were unknown when the wall was completed. A century ago.

“We are building a framework for where we need to go,” said Elaine Forbes, the port’s executive director. “This is an attempt to start buying risk.”

The commission is asked to spend $26 million on initial designs for the projects, which together estimate their cost from $650 million to $3 billion. This will allow the port to pursue state and federal funding that can fund changes between Mission Creek and Fisherman’s Wharf.

The first batch of recommendations focuses more on earthquakes than on sea-level rise, and for an obvious reason: The threat of a major earthquake in the San Andreas Fault is always present. Not only can this damage the sea wall, which consists of a concrete-covered dam made of rocks dumped into the mud of the bay, but the sandy landfill behind it can disintegrate due to vibration.

The proposed initiatives are aimed at vulnerable beach spaces, including:

• The seawall and berths along berths 24, 26 and 28 degrees, an aerial trio below the Bay Bridge, will be modified to reduce collapse risks.

• Pier 1, which was restored in 1999 and houses the port and other tenants, can be reinforced with a “superstructure” that sways during earthquakes along with the mud below.

• The Embarcadero Curve that runs from the cruise terminal at Pier 27 to Pier 39 will receive several seismic improvements. Some will reinforce the piers, while others will ensure that critical infrastructure withstands disturbance, such as the large pipes that run south from the sewage treatment plant near Pier 35.

• The stretch of Embarcadero that is now most prone to flooding during high tides and storms, from Pier 5 south past the ferry building to Rincon Park, will receive new protection – perhaps with new fenders, raised bulkheads or deployable bulkheads.

Seismic projects aim to complement long-term responses to sea level rise. For example, Pier 1’s “super framing” will be designed “to allow for roof and building elevation…to protect against rising water levels in the coming decades.”

The most surprising “early project” involves the Ferry Building itself.

The 1898 landmark is a popular destination for its restaurants and shops, and an architectural icon marked by its 245-foot-tall clock tower. Along the water’s edge, recently built ferry slides will serve as vital connections to and from San Francisco if the earthquake causes bridges or major roads to close.

“It is a building that people love, and a building that is the backbone of disaster response,” Forbes said.

But the classic icon also sits on 5,000 wooden stilts that have been pushed into the soft mud more than 100 feet deep. The concrete retaining wall along the water was subjected to two major earthquakes and the construction of a BART tube directly below it.

Port consultants say the infrastructure needs improvement – not an easy task given the site and the weight of the building. For this reason, the port wants to spend two years drafting engineering models “to test reinforcement concepts and long-term adaptation strategies which may include raising the building and installing a new seawall.”

How this can be done, if it can be done at all, is not yet known. This is the goal of modeling.

Other proposed projects are relatively straightforward, such as strengthening a weak link in the sea wall next to the Giants’ Stadium in the China Basin. The dam is stable. The sand on which it rests is not.

“It’s a unique spot,” said Stephen Reel, deputy director of engineering for the Waterfront Resilience Program at the port, of the stretch between Oracle Park and South Beach Marina. Digging deep, thin holes in the sand and then injecting them with mortar will strengthen the sand fill.

If the task of preparing for an uncertain future is difficult, so is finding money.

The design work will be funded by $425 million in bonds that San Francisco voters approved in 2018 to prepare the Embarcadero Coastline for earthquakes as well as high tides that the state expects to reach 3.5 feet between now and 2100. Some parts of the seawall may need to be repaired. Lift up to 7 feet, the port said last month — an aspect of the adaptation not touched upon in the first batch of proposed projects.

Using the proposed $26 million to develop the design, the port hopes to prepare “shovel-ready” projects that can then be used to attract additional funding.

The port commission meets on Tuesday. Assuming it gives the green light, the first projects to be pushed forward can be determined by next fall.

“With any program, there is a rolling decision process” in deciding what to push forward for potential funding, Riel said. “All grant opportunities that come up, you need to know what you’re going to do.”

John King is an urban design critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @johnkingsfchronicle

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