The Ministry of Public Works has hired a marine engineering company to investigate the design and construction of the Heritage Wharf cruise ship pier at Dockyard.In a statement released last night, Government said it had taken the action after being alerted to structural problems of the $60 million facility by the Department of Marine and Ports.The Royal Gazette also learned yesterday that around $500,000 worth of damage was caused to Heritage Wharf by the ocean surge whipped up by Hurricane Igor last September.That revelation appeared in a report by engineering firm Entech Ltd, which was forwarded to this newspaper by Correia Construction Ltd, the general contractor of the project to build the two-year-old pier.“The Ministry of Public Works is undertaking a thorough investigation into both the design and the construction of the Heritage Wharf pier in Dockyard having been alerted to some structural problems by the Department of Marine and Ports,” last night’s Government statement read.“The investigation, while not yet complete, has determined that there is presently no risk to the cruise ships berthing at the pier, and no risk to the cruise ship passengers.“The Ministry of Public Works, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport, has secured the services of an independent, third party marine engineering company whose employees are professionally qualified to undertake such inspections.“These specialists have since been diving to examine the structure of the pier and thruster wall along with studying the design specifications.“The Ministry of Public Works intends to correctly identify the cause of the failure of the thruster wall once the report from the independent engineering specialists is complete and will keep the public abreast of these findings accordingly.”This newspaper also requested information on whether the project had been insured by a performance bond, who was liable for the cost of the repairs, whether the pier had been expected to withstand the impact of a hurricane and why the damage caused by Igor had not been repaired over the last 10 months.“Until the report on the engineering survey has been completed and reviewed by the Ministries involved, it would be premature to comment any further on any aspects of design, construction or repairs to the structure,” Government’s statement added.The Entech report, which was addressed to Larry Jacobs at the Department of Tourism and Transport and was dated October 15, 2010, mentions the damaged thruster wall and the bowed catwalk highlighted in yesterday’s front-page story in this newspaper.The report was authored by engineer Dave Ramrattan, who noted that the main dock, the bridge and the terminal building had suffered only superficial damage from Igor, while the ramp for the ferry tender was reported to have been “flapping up and down during the storm, causing the cables to be dislodged from the pulleys”.“The aluminium-framed catwalk sustained minor structural damage, evidenced by a visible bow along the length of the section that links the last two (northern) mooring dolphins,” Mr Ramrattan wrote.“The north and south thruster walls sustained structural damage to the walers, the sheet-piles, batter piles and main piles.”There was also some damage to the ground transportation area, including an overturned bus shelter. The engineers inspected the site on September 22, 2010, two days after Igor battered the Island as a Category 1 storm.The report advised that the catwalk “should not be left exposed to storm conditions that generate waves greater than 7ft above tide level. In this regard, the spans may be unbolted and removed for secured storage, prior to such an event.“Even though the damaged span is deemed structurally safe, steps should be taken to remove and repair it in the coming off season.”The $4.1 million thruster wall, designed to act as a shield for the coastline against the thrust from cruise ship propellers, was the first line of protection from the storm for the catwalk and the bridge against 12ft waves whipped up by Igor, the report states.“In order to strengthen and reinstate the structural integrity to pre-storm condition, additional batter piles and waler beams along its length would be required,” Mr Ramrattan noted.Based on structural market rates at the time and preliminary quantities, the report estimated a cost of $500,000 for all identified structural repairs.Auditor General Heather Jacobs Matthews has been investigating the project to build Heritage Wharf, which cost taxpayers almost $60 million compared to the $39 million contract price.