Army Corps hopes to have critical repairs to Buffalo Outer Harbor breakwater finished next month

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun what it describes as critical repairs on the South breakwater in Buffalo's Outer Harbor.

The work is being done within view of thousands of passing motorists along NY Rt. 5.

While most are familiar with the structure which has been in place longer than any of us have been alive, perhaps few of us have given much more than a passing thought to its existence.

"Nobody really thinks about the breakwater until it fails," conceded Alex Goldbach, a civil engineers for the Army Corps Buffalo District.

The breakwater, more commonly called a break wall, continues to protect commercial shipping operations.

However, it also plays a vital role in protecting the shore of the outer harbor where millions of dollars of investments made in j