Crews from Beavers Marine Store of Magnolia, Ohio work Wednesday to put pilings in place to secure the new dock at the Wheeling Island Marina in the back channel of the Ohio River. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

WHEELING – Officials in Wheeling hoped the docks at the Wheeling Island Marina that were washed away by the April floods could be replaced in time for the July 4 holiday. It turns out that installation of the new and improved docks should be completed this week.

Crews from American Muscle Docks & Fabricating of Wellsburg and Beavers Marine Store of Magnolia, Ohio, took to the backchannel of the Ohio River this week to make sure the new docks were put in place at Wheeling’s primary boat launch site on Wheeling Island.

On Wednesday, crews from Beavers Marine Store worked from boats to pile drive the poles into the riverbed which will securely hold the new docks in place.

Wheeling Islanders are no strangers to flooding, but significant weather events caused the Ohio River to swell over its banks two times in a matter of eight days in early April. On April 5, the river crested just below 42 feet, and the rushing waters took out the docks at the Wheeling Island Marina.

“Something hit it and knocked it off,” said Marc Hannah of American Muscle Docks. “It’s kind of like an avalanche – once one goes, the pressure builds. Who knows what hit it.”

Whatever struck the old dock took out two anchoring poles, and the strong current took out the rest of the structure. During the week of the two floods, most of the remnants of the docks were caught on the piers of the bridges over the backchannel.

Crews from Beavers Marine Store of Magnolia, Ohio work Wednesday to put pilings in place to secure the new dock at the Wheeling Island Marina in the back channel of the Ohio River. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

“The walkway was wrapped around the Interstate 70 bridge piers, and the big stretch is just gone,” said Ward 2 Wheeling City Councilman Ben Seidler, who resides on Wheeling Island. “That part of the dock was temporarily wrapped around the Bridgeport bridge, but by the time the water came down to where we could safely get to it, it was gone. It’s probably either in someone’s backyard somewhere or maybe clear down in the Gulf of Mexico at this point.”

One piece of the dock was recovered, and sections of the walkway were able to be cobbled together and reassembled with some fabricated segments for use over this past holiday weekend. American Muscle Docks helped put together a temporary dock at the boat launch in time for Memorial Day Weekend activities on the water.

“That was a big deal,” Seidler said, noting that the temporary dock was heavily used over the holiday weekend. “Hundreds of boats used it.

“Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff to boat season in this region, obviously, and we had a lot of stuff going on and a lot of people dropping boats in the water. We had a big fishing tournament this weekend here. So I’m incredibly thankful for the City of Wheeling Operations Department and American Muscle Docks for getting us a temporary dock in for the weekend. And for Beavers Marine for coming down to put in the pilings for the new dock.”

During this time of year, it’s not easy to get professional dock installation done at the drop of the hat, but just as fate took away the old docks, a twist of fate blessed the city of Wheeling with good fortune this time.

“For dock guys, Memorial Day is Black Friday, and the Fourth of July is like Christmas,” Hannah explained, noting that despite being tucked away in Brooke County, American Muscle Docks works with clients in 27 countries across the globe and in the past has been named the U.S. Small Business Association Exporter of the Year. “So during this point of the year, we’re putting in things that people ordered back in January. Fortunately enough, we got ahead of things to the point where we could squeeze my hometown in, and we did. We made this deal last Wednesday and were able to turn this around quickly.”

American Muscle Docks works on regional jobs a lot with Beavers Marine, which also has an extremely busy schedule but were able to come down and help with the pilings this week.

Crews from Beavers Marine Store of Magnolia, Ohio work Wednesday to put pilings in place to secure the new dock at the Wheeling Island Marina in the back channel of the Ohio River. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

“We got lucky there,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. “Our goal was to get them installed by July 4. They’re going to have it in this week.”

Herron said the cost of the project is around $46,894. Because of the federal disaster declaration issued this past week in the wake of the heavy rains and floods from April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to reimburse the city for this expense.

And the docks will be new and improved, crews noted. The old docks that were in place for around 15 years were made of steel and wood decking. The new docks are made with composite materials that are light, durable and easy to clean.

The new docks are the exact same size as the previous docks.

Officials said they hoped to make the docks fully ADA accessible in the future and were discussing the possibility of adding kayak launch areas in the future.

“This is the only public boat launch in Wheeling,” Seidler noted. “If you don’t go here, you go to Bellaire. I’m very thankful for everyone who helped get this turned around quickly for the start of boat season.”

Marc Hannah of American Muscle Docks & Fabrication in Wellsburg, Neil Beavers of Beavers Marine Store in Magnolia, Ohio and Ward 2 Wheeling City Councilman Ben Seidler pose on the new docks being installed this week at the Wheeling Island Marina. (Photo by Eric Ayres)