October 2010

Things have been moving fast. October has shown that not even storms slow this project down.

Looking down the main road to Rt 96, its all blasted and ready to be levelled. The stone will be crushed and used as base material for the permanent road

Looking up the main road toward the building site.

During the month of October we have watched as the foundation of the BCBB building has started taking shape

Unfortunately a storm came through this month and knocked down several trees that we had hoped would provide shade for the parking lot.

The pipe for the water main has been delivered and will be put into place during November

In order for our main road to be accessible from Rt 96 a culvert needs to be placed across the stream. The stream will be diverted through pipes so that the culvert can be put in place and the water can then be redirected back onto its original path.

Bigelow needed to extend the water main that ran under Rt 96 a bit further, this caused a bit of a diversion for normal traffic flow. Crooker worked through the weekend to make sure this was finished and no longer an issue for the folks of East Boothbay who have been through enough road construction this year.

September 2010

Hawkes foresters are fast. Within days most of the area was knocked down

Once the trees were knocked down they dragged them out and processed them into usable materials

With enough trees dragged out, we were able to walk back to the building site. The next several photos show the transition of the site of the first building up to the Ground Breaking Ceremony




A storm came through over the weekend and make the entire building site a muddy mess. Through the tireless efforts of Crooker and Consigli, they came in at first light and transformed the area from mud to gravel. They set the groundwork for a successful Ground-breaking Ceremony.
A few days after the ceremony, the septic leach field was cleared of trees. This clearing brought with it an unexpected cross river view of South Bristol. This is the expected view for the ground floor of the Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology (BCBB) building. I am looking forward to see how it looks from the second floor.

The parking lot was cleared and will be used as a material processing area until the BCBB is completed.

Hawkes have cut a path down to Route 96. This will become the main entrance to the Bigelow Campus.

Crooker wasted no time "Stumping and Grubbing" the access road. Getting ready to blast the road and a trench line for the water main to be brought in late October.

Sigler was hired to perform the blasting. They are making good headway with their time on the site. They are drilling and blasting in multiple locations on the site at once. They report that the blasting is coming along smooth. The ledge has lots of quartz in it making it easy to break up.

August 2010

August 30, 2010 a quiet site being prepared for a major transformation. This 64 acre piece of coastal land is criss-crossed with hiking and ATV trails. Bigelow will transform 14 acres of this forested land into a modern state of the art oceanographic research facility.


Consigli won the Construction Management bid for this project. Consigli hired Mark Hawkes & Sons Foresters to harvest the wood and clear the land for development. The first equipment to arrive at the site is the harvestor.


After intensive detailed surveying a path is flagged and outlined to guide the harvester along its way. The above image is the first of many trees to be cut down.

What was once just an ATV trail now is the start of something much bigger.

The Road to East Boothbay

September 7, 2010 was the beginning of a long awaited and exciting time in Bigelow Laboratory’s history. More than two hundred friends and neighbors from the surrounding area gathered in a clearing of our East Boothbay woodland property to witness the official groundbreaking for the Laboratory’s new home. The years, months, weeks, and days leading up to this moment are a story of vision, determination, talent, and generosity on the part of a long list of people who believe that discoveries in ocean science are important to all our lives.

The new campus project is becoming more of a physical reality every day. Funding from a diversity of sources has made this possible, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, the Maine Technology Asset Fund, the First National Bank of Damariscotta, the support of Maine’s Congressional delegation, and the unflagging generosity of the Laboratory’s private donors.

This blog is intended to provide regular updates, in pictures, words, and--when possible--video about our progress in building the new Ocean Science and Education Campus. The first three wings under construction are the Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology, the Center for Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Change, and the Center for Ocean Health. What you will see in the posts that follow will be the future of world-class ocean science taking shape on a very special part of the Maine coast.

We are committed to ensuring optimal land use, stewardship, and sustainability as we move ahead with this project. Our goal is to be excellent stewards of the natural environment around us, and to become an effective part of this wonderful local community.

We welcome all your comments, questions, and ideas about our new campus.