Newport council approves Cliff Walk contract. What's in the future for collapsed section
NEWPORT – The Newport City Council has retained the services of an engineering firm to provide design and construction administration for repairs to the Cliff Walk, but repairs won’t come until the city secures the nearly $14 million it needs to fund them.
“This is a full engineering process completed so that, if we receive funding for the Cliff Walk, this project is shovel ready and we are good to go immediately,” Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
Khamsyvoravong and his fellow councilors unanimously approved a $414,580 contract for Providence-based GZA Geoenvironmental to design and oversee the construction of the needed repair work needed to the city’s Cliff Walk at the council’s regular Wednesday meeting. A portion of the iconic walking trail along the coast of Easton Bay collapsed in March 2022 and sustained further damage later that year in December.
Since then, the city has been trying to secure funding to fix the tourist attraction through state and federal grants. In June 2023, Gov. Dan McKee issued an emergency disaster declaration at the request of the City Council, which hoped the declaration could help the city acquire up to $10 million in federal disaster relief money to fund the project. In the press release announcing McKee’s declaration, the state estimated comprehensive repairs would cost $13.75 million.
Additionally, McKee included a $50-million "green" bond in his Fiscal 25 budget that includes $8 million to fix Cliff Walk.
What work will the contract cover
The city previously had a $154,315 contract with GZA Geoenvironmental to conduct pre-design investigations and schematic-level engineering design services for the collapsed area, which was approved by the council in April 2022. GZA will now be responsible for 30%, 60% and 100% design schematics for repairs to the Cliff Walk, solicit a contractor for the construction work and provide engineering and construction oversight on the project.
The contract does not mention an estimated cost for the actual repairs nor a schedule for their completion, but notes that GZA will “re-evaluate the cost and schedule of the project to include any updates to the design and to incorporate cost related to construction sequencing.”
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Cliff Walk repair contract approved, funding needed to advance project
