Upgraded pier and renovated restaurant make customers and clams happy.
Keep on clamming. To protect the patrons of Ivar’s at Pier 54 and take advantage of the Alaskan Way Seawall construction scheduled down-time for the restaurant, Ivar’s renovated Pier 54 and performed seismic upgrades to the restaurant building. Reid Middleton provided structural and waterfront engineering for the upgrade of the pier and restaurant facility. The project included the complete replacement of the existing timber aprons on the north and west sides of the building and a partial replacement of the south apron with new steel piling, precast concrete caps, and deck panels. The aprons were designed to seismically strengthen the remaining portion of the timber pier that supports the building and are tied into the existing pier with a series of drag struts. The project also included replacing 160 existing timber piles and extensive timber joist and timber cap pile cap replacement and strengthening. Structural seismic upgrades were also completed on the historic building located on the pier. The nearly 100-year-old heavy timber structure required structural upgrades to strengthen the building. Upgrades included installing steel moment frames and upgrades to existing heavy timber trusses to support additional loads. A portion of the existing walls were removed to create an outdoor dining area. The existing window openings were also revised to allow for the installation of larger windows.