CRMC to remove more creosote timbers from Providence River

April 20, 2026, PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) is facilitating the removal of additional derelict creosote timber pilings and catwalks from the Providence River, the second similar project in less than six months.

The CRMC on April 28, 2026 approved an application for a Triton Terminaling, LLC project that will remove 885 timber pilings, two abandoned timber supported concrete “dolphins” and 8,863 square feet of deteriorating timber catwalks from the river at the Shell Oil Providence Terminal on Allens Avenue. Only 12 new steel pilings and 1,138 square feet of new steel catwalks will be installed in their place, representing the minimum required by the CRMC’s regulatory program to access active concrete dolphins. There will be a 7,725 square foot reduction in structural footprint over tidal waters and a 1,000-plus square foot reduction in piling footprint on the riverbed itself for the oil terminal removal and replacement project. Foth Engineering will conduct a post-construction hydrographic survey to confirm all of the debris has been removed within the footprint of the project area.

Late last year, the CRMC announced it had secured grant funding to remove 250 tons of derelict creosote timbers and piers in the Providence River at the Point Street Bridge. The CRMC and partners The Rhode Island Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and City of Providence will remove approximately a half-acre of these creosote timbers and piers from the water around the bridge, abating roughly 23,000 square feet of navigation and safety hazards from the waterway.

This work has been funded through a grant of more than $2.3 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program and will entail removing the derelict timbers and piers from the waters of the Providence River surrounding the Point Street Bridge in downtown Providence. The project will be limited to removing wooden remnants of the bridge’s old swing system. The Point Street Bridge was built in 1927 as a center-bearing swing-bridge located on the Providence River in Providence. The bridge’s creosote wooden timber system remains in the river in a severely deteriorated state.

Providence and its harbor have a long history of navigation for industrial and economic purposes, and more recently, for recreation, tourism, and cultural events. The derelict timbers present a hazard to navigation and are a significant environmental concern.

Both projects would address a long-standing source of contamination, and provide benefits for sediment, water quality, and species in the area. The removal of the Point Street Bridge pilings will likely begin in the Spring of 2026 and be fully removed by the end of 2026. Triton plans to begin removal of the timbers, piers and dolphins later his spring.