A condemned, decades-old pier at Naval Station Newport is getting a $271.2 million rebuild, and when it's finished in 2030 it will be the permanent homeport for four of the Coast Guard's newest patrol cutters. The U.S. Navy officially awarded the Phase 2 construction contract for Pier 1 at Coddington Cove to Skanska USA Civil Northeast Inc. on September 22, with the project slated for completion in March 2030.
The award marks a major milestone in reshaping Naval Station Newport into a primary Northeast hub for both defense and scientific maritime work, according to the Providence Business News. Funding for the contract draws from Fiscal 2022 Major Acquisition Systems Infrastructure funds along with Department of Homeland Security money authorized under the Fiscal 2025 One, Big Beautiful Bill Act, per the U.S. Department of Defense. The original Pier 1, built in the 1950s and stretching 1,585 feet, was condemned due to storm damage, wave action and ongoing degradation, and was demolished as part of the project's first phase, according to The Jamestown Press.
A Bigger, Sturdier Replacement
The new Pier 1 will be smaller in footprint than its predecessor, measuring 1,000 feet long and 80 feet wide, but it's being engineered with a higher deck elevation meant to minimize wave damage and account for future sea-level rise, the same report notes. Beyond the concrete pier deck itself, Phase 2 work includes a new bulkhead, laydown and parking areas, stormwater management systems, and utility connections for fire water, electric, communications and compressed air, according to Senator Jack Reed.
Reed, who represents Rhode Island and lives in Jamestown, said the U.S. Coast Guard secured the contract for the next phase of construction at Pier 1, calling it a needed step to ensure the Coast Guard deepens its roots in Rhode Island. “Constructing this pier is a needed step to ensure the Coast Guard deepens its roots in Rhode Island,” Reed said, per The Jamestown Press. He added that the rebuilt structure will become “a resilient, efficient, multifunctional waterfront hub serving for generations.”
Room for the Coast Guard's Newest Cutters
The rebuilt pier is designed specifically to serve as the permanent homeport for four new Offshore Patrol Cutters, a new class of multi-mission vessels expanding the Coast Guard's surface fleet, according to NOAA Fisheries. That means four major cutter berths for a growing fleet, supporting the Coast Guard's broader push to enhance its regional maritime commitment and operations in Rhode Island, per The Jamestown Press. The Coast Guard currently has five cutters stationed in the state: the seagoing buoy tenders Oak and Sycamore, and the medium endurance cutters Legare, Campbell and Tahoma.
Two of those medium endurance cutters have their own backstory tied to the pier project. In August 2022, Campbell and Tahoma shifted their homeports from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine to NAVSTA Newport's Pier 2, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, a move made to accommodate shipyard upgrades in Maine while Pier 1 sat out of service.
Part of a Broader Waterfront Buildout
Pier 1 construction isn't happening in isolation. Adjacent to it at Coddington Cove, NOAA broke ground in May 2024 on a $147 million Marine Operations Center-Atlantic facility, also built by Skanska USA, relocating NOAA's regional headquarters from Norfolk, Virginia, to Naval Station Newport, according to the RI congressional delegation. The Coddington Cove site itself has a layered history, having formerly housed the Robert E. Derecktor Shipyard before its redevelopment for military and oceanographic use, per a NOAA environmental assessment.
Federal investment in the base's waterfront goes back further still. In December 2015, Reed secured $30 million to build a two-story Shore Operations Building, dredge 5,000 cubic yards of water between piers, and upgrade Pier 2 moorings, according to a statement from his Senate office. Reed serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, positions that have helped him steer major defense earmarks toward Rhode Island since he first took office in 1997.
Environmental Reviews Underway
Because construction involves underwater pile-driving in Coddington Cove, NOAA Fisheries issued incidental harassment authorizations to the Coast Guard in September to manage potential acoustic impact on local marine mammals during the work. The pier project arrives months after a separate infrastructure headache rattled the base: Hoodline previously reported on freezer failures that forced Naval Station Newport's commissary to restrict sales to dry goods amid a multi-state military base infrastructure failure. It remains unclear which specific Offshore Patrol Cutter hulls will ultimately be permanently assigned to Newport once the new Pier 1 opens in 2030.
