The Wharf Eaten Alive
Seattle's city wharf at the foot of Spring Street is in a precarious state after being compromised by marine borers.
Port Warden Jelich reported to the board of public works that the city wharf at the foot of Spring Street is in a precarious condition. The wooden piles supporting the structure have been partly eaten through by teredos—marine shipworms—and the wharf has sustained further damage from vessels striking against it during recent storms. The superintendent of buildings and wharves has been tasked with investigating the necessary repairs to this essential infrastructure.
“Port Warden Jelich reported that the city wharf at the foot of Spring Street is in a precarious condition, owing to the piles having been partly eaten through by teredos.”
The teredo shipworm was a constant, destructive threat to early Seattle's timber-heavy maritime infrastructure, necessitating constant maintenance. Today, maritime engineering has largely solved these biological threats, but the constant battle against the elements at the waterfront remains a hallmark of Seattle's civic management.
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