Roen Salvage starts $15 million breakwater repair in Algoma

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Sturgeon Bay-based Roen Salvage Co. on June 18 started a $15 million contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair a century-old, 1,500-foot-long breakwater in Algoma, Wis.

Crews will demolish concrete from the top to near water level and temporarily move the armor stone for new sheet piles around the entire structure, officials said in a news release. The structure will be filled with stone and topped with a reinforced concrete slab, and work will be carried out incrementally to protect the harbor.

Increasing water levels, stronger winds, heavier storms and wave erosion deteriorated the structure and resulted in a loss of stone fill, according to structural and coastal engineer Prairie Engineers. If the breakwater was ever breached by a strong wave, it would damage the nearby marinas, boats and docks and compromise the nearby County Road S bridge over the Ahnapee River, engineers added.

The harbor structures are a 1,102-foot-long North Pier and a 1,530-foot-long South Breakwater, according to the Corps. The new structure will be around four feet wider than the previous breakwater and the flat top will make it more walkable, company officials added.

Boaters will still be able to move through the marina uninterrupted, but are advised not to throw wakes at floating equipment or speed through the construction zone.

The project is expected to take more than two years to complete and will wrap up in spring of 2026, officials said. Superintendent Mark Olson will lead the project.

The project is supported by federal infrastructure dollars. In 2022, the Corps invested $14 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding into hundreds of port and waterway projects, including the Algoma project in Kewaunee County.