NOAA MARINE OPERATIONS CENTERPort of Newport

PROJECT OVERVIEWOWNER: Port of NewportLOCATION: Newport, ORCOMPLETED: November 2013SIZE: 1300 linear feet of pier + 40,800-sf warehouse ARCHITECT: gLAs Architects

Received a 2012 Grand Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council Of Engineering Companies Of Oregon

KPFF served as the prime design consultant for a new homeport facility for NOAA’s Pacific fleet located in Newport, Oregon. KPFF and geotechnical engineer GRI provided engineering services for the 1,300-ft long, 35-ft wide concrete pier to provide berthing for six ships. The Port of Newport had 22 months to design, permit and construct the facility to meet NOAA’s June 2011 occupancy deadline. Rigorous environmental regulations enforced a 15-week in-water work window that began on November 1, leaving seven months to construct the pier. In addition, the team had to devise creative solutions to minimize impacts on critical habitat for fish, birds, sea lions and eelgrass.

KPFF and GRI proactively staged a test-pile program during the 2009/2010 in-water work window to examine the viability, schedule efficiencies and environmental features of three pile alternatives. The team actively engaged environmental consultants, diverse regulatory agencies, the Port and NOAA to address concerns, facilitate timely review, and gain numerous approvals for

required state and federal permits. The optimal solution included a stepped steel pile targeted to an intermediate sand bearing layer with meticulously planned pile-driving sequences that mitigate acoustic and marine disturbance. The team carefully configured the structure’s geometry to minimize dredging, applied a daylight enhancing reflective paint beneath the pier, and transplanted a significant amount of eelgrass for a new habitat.

To meet the schedule, the design team developed an all-precast superstructure design. Exacting pile tolerances for the precast structure were achieved through a hydraulic-controlled pile installation template that was set using a GPS system. The team developed an innovative precast bent beam to provide flexural continuity between the beam and piles in order to optimize seismic performance and reduce deflections from wind, wave and earthquake forces, and support moored vessels during storm events.

COMPLEXITY

The project posed intense complications due to an extraordinarily tight deadline with a 15-week in-water construction window and accompanying environmental imperatives. Demolition of an existing dock, all dredging work, pile installation, and bank grading and stabilization had to occur in the 15-week window, which required the contractor to work in cold, windy coastal conditions with tidal fluctuations in excess of 10 feet. Newport’s high seismic hazard zone and marine environment also presented challenging and variable subsurface conditions. KPFF and GRI had to engage numerous agency representatives, team members and the CM/GC contractor very early and throughout the process to ensure all regulatory concerns were proactively addressed, needed permits were obtained on time, and that all solutions met the aggressive schedule.

It was difficult to create a pier layout that accommodated six berths, remained out of the shipping channel and had minimal dredging. The team examined various geometries and added fenders on the end of the dock for added berths. A precast concrete superstructure was an inventive response to the schedule, but it brought new complications to achieve exacting tolerances for 105-foot piles installed in waves and wind.

The team built a hydraulic controlled pile installation template that was set using a GPS system. The contractor set three piles in place at one time, and no pile was found to be more than two inches out of tolerance. Unique cap-to-pile connections helped ensure that the pre-cast pile caps fit perfectly.

Steel piles were the best solution to minimize construction risks and environmental impacts, but salt water corrosion was an issue. The team addressed corrosion with an electric-current induced cathodic protection system. The electrical conduits for cathodic protection, pier lighting, vessel shore power and communications were integrated into the precast structure. Coordinating conduit cast into the slabs was extremely challenging. Junction boxes are strategically placed to allow access, replacement and additions but no electrical conduits are visible. A computer-generated BIM (building information modeling) model was used to coordinate the placement of MEP systems within the structure.

Thanks in great part to KPFF’s initiative, resourcefulness, and coordination with our entire project team, we were able to obtain the needed approvals, safeguard the marine habitat we so highly value, and complete the project early and on budget. This was a monumental feat and I believe that KPFF’s exceptional work merits recognition for engineering excellence.

- Don Mann, General Manager, Port of Newport

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THE STRUCTURAL TEAM

As a project manager and structural engineer, Tommi excels at problem solving and working with clients to achieve their vision. Her ability to observe, listen and quickly respond to clients makes her easy to work with and a valuable member of the team. Tommi has more than 16 years of experience on a wide variety of project types, including marine facilities, bridges, and buildings. Her design experience includes cast-in-place concrete, prestressed concrete, steel, aluminum, timber, and masonry. Tommi enjoys developing elegant and appropriate engineering project solutions and providing effective design support services. She is also experienced with engineering studies, cost estimating, scheduling, and technical report writing.

Tommi Rutherford, PE, SEProject Manager | Structural Engineer

With more than 20 years of experience on a wide variety of project types, Craig is widely recognized as an exceptional structural engineer and project manager. He has a passion for finding innovative structural solutions for his clients. His design and project management experience comprises a variety of building, waterfront, roadway and railroad structures. Craig’s determination to give back to society is evident in his extensive volunteer efforts: he has travelled multiple times to Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake to conduct structural damage assessments and train Haitian engineers, architects and masons on better seismic design and construction practices. He is a member of both Engineers Without Borders and Architects Without Borders and a board member of the non-profit Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group.

Craig Totten, PE, SE, LEED APPrincipal | Structural Engineer