B
Publish and Present
Joel Aguilar, P.E., S.E., M.ASCE
Senior Structural Engineer
Port of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Cheng Lai, P.E., S.E., M.ASCE
Former Deputy Chief Harbor Engineer
Port of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Arul Arulmoli, PhD, P.E., G.E., D.GE, F.ASCE
Principal
Earth Mechanics, Inc.
Fountain Valley, California
Prabin Tuladhar, P.E.
Senior Engineer (Structural), Ports and Marine, West Region
AECOM
Orange, California
Ian Sequeira, P.E., MTOP
Project Manager
AECOM
Huntington Beach, California
The Port of Long Beach (POLB), Harbor Marine Maintenance Group is one of the key teams responsible for maintaining the 4,600 acres of waterfront assets. They were in need of a docking facility for their vessels and dive team at Pier D, Berth 48. A new concrete floating dock was designed and constructed to enable the Harbor Marine Maintenance Group to operate more safely and efficiently.
Pier D, Berth 48 was originally constructed in the 1930s as Pier No. 1. It was re-constructed in the early 1950s following the subsidence in the 1940s. The wharf construction consists of a concrete quay wall structure and facilities include a warehouse and the Harbor Marine Maintenance Administration Building. The concrete floating dock designed and installed was 22 feet wide x 165 feet long and has one row of 24-inch octagonal precast prestressed concrete (PCPSC) guide piles. The mudline is at approximate El. -36 feet mean lower low water (MLLW). Additional appurtenances installed included a supporting platform and aluminum gangway, a 3-ton jib crane, safety railing, and utility connections.
Key issues related to the project were incorporating the operating requirements of the Harbor Marine Maintenance Group during the design and avoiding disruption to the operating tenant during construction, which operates Berths D49 and D50 and provides many services to POLB. Underground obstructions presented difficult challenges for installation of the PCPSC guide piles. The complexities of delivering a concrete floating dock design that would be delivered by the Contractor as a deferred approval also presented unanticipated challenges throughout the construction.
This paper presents the evaluations/analyses required and the design alternatives considered for the floating dock and its components. In addition, design/construction lessons learned and highlights of some of the innovative features that resulted in the successful project completion on time and within budget are discussed.