Bellingham Marine Industries (BMI) is currently working on the Don Armeni Boat Ramp Replacement Project in West Seattle. The boat ramp initially reopened in March 2024, but in the interim, the hinges between the floats failed, and the concrete on the floats was spalling and cracking.

To address these structural issues, BMI is removed all the concrete floats, except those connected to the abutment on both the north and south sides of the ramp. The removal process began on November 7, 2024, and the floats have been stored within the boat launch facility parking lot. BMI collaborated with Seattle Parks and Recreation on a retrofit design, and the replacement floats are now being installed. 

Karen O'Connor with Seattle Parks added these details:

"These repairs were needed due damaged hinge assemblies. This damage that occurred may have been due to existing conditions, which became known when we discovered someone maybe a century ago had decommissioned a sawmill and dumped all the old lumber into the water.  We removed about 10' of this old lumber before stopping (we were afraid we would undermine the boat ramp if we continued)--please see attached photo.  Therefore, we could not install the 4th pile of 4 on the north, and the 3rd pile of 4 on the south.  So the south assembly was 2 floats short, and the north 1 float short.  The floats systems were not designed to be installed as such, and this could have contributed to the failure of the hinge systems.  It is also possible, the hinge system may have failed regardless, but the new system being installed is much more robust, and should last.  In addition, using the same system, we will be able to install the floats that were previously missing on the south assembly."

 Enhanced Security is now in place at Don Armeni Boat Launch

Thanks to District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka: 

According to Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR), here’s the latest update:  

“Gates on both exit and entrance have now been added, coordinating with Seattle Police Department (SPD) to clear out the lot at 10pm; they are reinstalling parking signs after they keep getting removed and will keep reinstalling the signs. The head of SPR security stated that he felt positive that the clearing out the park has been good and SPR intends on installing more boulders. SPR is in the design phase to add more speed bumps inside the parking lot, which is the final item done by SPR  and we are trying to get it done before the heavy season hits!" 

Starting in 2025, the Don Armeni boat ramp is proposed to shift from 24-hour access to operating hours of 4:00am to 10:30pm, pending final approval by Parks Superintendent AP Diaz.