The new Farragut Sea Wall at the Naval Academy is finally complete.
Less than two years after officials broke ground on the project, the sea wall, which extends from Santee Basin and the Robert Crown Sailing Center past Triton Light, has been repaired and reinforced, capping off the first of many efforts to bolster the academy’s resilience against future rising sea levels. Federal, county and city officials marked the conclusion of the project Friday morning with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
The record number of flooding events on the Yard this year alone poses an “existential threat” to the waterfront grounds, said Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette Davids.
“Although the danger to the continued existence of our academy is clear, we will not stand still as we watch the sea rise around us because our Navy and Marine Corps, our Naval Academy, adapts to whatever [dangers] we face,” she said.
The work at the academy included repairs to the sheet pile bulkheads along Farragut Field and the southeast side of Santee Basin, as well as construction of a new sheet pile bulkhead and a tieback system to reinforce the support system. Reconstruction and repaving of Brownson and Turner Joy roads and restoration of the Class of 1945 sea gate were also completed, the academy said in a news release.
Triton Light, the iconic navigational beacon situated on the seawall, was not in operation during construction. The light was…
