Officials at George Mason University’s Potomac Science Center have unveiled plans for a new pier to be constructed on the Occoquan River near the Belmont Bay community in Woodbridge.
Dozens of residents gathered at a town hall meeting Aug. 19 to learn about the project, The Pier at the Potomac Science Center, which will allow educators and students from the center to directly access the river for research purposes.
There is currently a small pier that sits in very shallow water below the facility, hundreds of feet from the main channel of the river. The new pier will extend nearly 600 feet from the shoreline and allow for semi-permanent docking of a new 40-foot research vessel and several smaller vessels. As things stand today, boats must be stored on land…