(BUFFALO, N.Y.) Feb. 10, 2025 – Buffalo Harbor, situated on the shores of Lake Erie, is a key piece of commerce, transportation, and recreation in Western New York. At the heart of the harbor’s resilience are its vital infrastructure components, including breakwaters and piers built and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District.
Over the last 10 years, more than $74 million has been invested into these structures to protect the harbor, ensuring navigable waterways for economic and community vitality.
The Lifeline of Buffalo Harbor
Six navigation structures serve as a shield against Lake Erie’s volatile storms, absorbing the brunt of its wave action while safeguarding the harbor.
The West Breakwater, South Breakwater, North Breakwater, South Pier, Old Breakwater, and Bird Island Pier, have stood for decades. Without them, the harbor would become unnavigable, potentially forcing commercial traffic to shift to rail or truck transport.
- The Buffalo Harbor handles over one million tons of cargo each year.
- Waterborne transportation through the harbor supports over $53 million in business revenue.
- The harbor supports 227 jobs and over $16 million in labor income.
Without the harbor, shipping costs would increase by an estimated $3.9 million annually.
These primary benefits hinge on the breakwaters’ ability to maintain safe navigation. Secondary benefits are also provided by way of protecting the shoreline from erosion and Buffalo’s coastal regions from storm damage.
Bird Island Pier protects the entrance to Buffalo’s Black Rock Lock, allowing safe navigation between Buffalo Harbor, Lake Erie and the Niagara River by avoiding the river’s dangerous rapids.
The South Pier prevents sediment buildup in the navigation channel leading in and out of the south entrance of the Buffalo River. Serving as both a functional structure and community asset, it also provides a scenic and accessible waterfront space for residents and visitors to enjoy, enhancing Buffalo’s cultural and recreational appeal.
Investment in Buffalo Harbor structures began in 1820 with the citizen-built South Pier to protect the original harbor. After the harbor didn’t survive the 1820s due to storms, the U.S. Government took on maintenance of the pier in 1826.
- Common construction methods for piers and breakwaters in the 19th century consisted of timber cribs with stone fill.
- As part of operations and maintenance of the harbor, modern engineered structures consisting of rubble mound, armor stone and concrete caps replaced or were overlayed on top of the original structures.
Why Repairs are Critical
Structures within Buffalo Harbor face constant degradation challenges from time, weather and fluctuating lake levels, making investment by the Buffalo District a pressing need.
- The West Breakwater was severely damaged by storms in 2020, resulting in the loss of its concrete cap and displacement of stone across 100 feet.
- The North Breakwater suffered damage to 1,300 feet during storms in 2019 with collapsed walls, displaced stone and fallen concrete cap.
- The South Breakwater suffered a partial collapse along 260 feet during the winter of 2022-2023.
- The South Pier has required structural repairs to fill voids and shore-up structural integrity.
Buffalo District repairs made to these structures have maintained the harbor’s economic, environmental and recreation value, ensuring the flow of commerce and its use as a recreation area. Over the last 10 years…
- $16.8 million has been spent to repair the South Breakwater,
- $430,000 has been spent on engineering and design of repairs for the West Breakwater (with an estimated $1.9 million needed to carry out repairs),
- $25.4 million has been spent to repair the North Breakwater,
- $1.5 million has been spent to repair the South Pier,
- $250,000 has been spent to design repairs for Bird Island Pier (with an estimated $21 million to carry out repairs).
- And $9.4 million for structural repairs across the harbor.
The Ripple Effect of Investment
Repairing and maintaining structures in Buffalo Harbor is about ensuring the harbor continues to thrive as a vital resource for the city and the Great Lakes region. Investments in these structures secures Buffalo’s position as a viable port city, protects waterborne commerce, provides for recreational opportunities, and fosters environmental sustainability by mitigating shoreline erosion.
The Buffalo District delivers world class engineering solutions to the Great Lakes Region, the Army and the Nation in order to ensure national security, environmental sustainability, water resource management, and emergency assistance during peace and war.
More information on the USACE Buffalo District is available at https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/buffalo.