Completed Projects

Project P-700-A, Berthing Wharf (Increment 1)
Contract No. N68711-98-C-5408 FY 2000 MCON

Location: Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California
Award Date: 02/18/00
Completion Date: 04/30/02
Award Amount: $41,456,800.00
Final Contract Price: $45,046,854.00

Project Description

Construction of P700A is the follow on phase to P700, Aircraft Carrier Wharf previously constructed by Nova/Staite Joint Venture. P700A consists of a 90’ x 1300’ CVN Berthing Wharf, CVN Warehouse and lay-down building. The elements of construction included demolition, dredging, rock dike, dredge spoil fill, earth fill, soils densification, pile driving, cast in-place concrete, floating dock, mechanical, electrical, paving and site work.

R. E. Staite Engineering, Inc. accomplished the challenging task of demolishing the J/K pier including pulling over 1200 concrete piles of various sizes and construction, dating back over five decades. The demolished deck, pile caps and piles were sized and crushed for recycling as road base. Steel reinforcing bar was loaded onto a barge and returned to our waterfront facility. The bar was then offloaded and recycled. The demolition was impeded by the difficulties encountered while pulling the old concrete piling that disintegrated using standard pulling equipment and methods.

During the rock dike dredging operation, R. E. Staite removed 220,000 cubic yards of material, 78,000 cubic yards of this material was transported by ABS load line barges to the open ocean disposal site. Dredging control and disposal scow tracking was performed by the use of WINOPS dredge positioning system.

Construction of the wharf required that 651 piles, 24” concrete piling with varying lengths up to 117’ and 28” diameter x 50’ pipe piles, to be driven through the armor rock and into the rock dike within specified tolerances. Critical coordination was required to cast, cure and load the concrete piling out onto barges at Pier BRAVO (Ammo pier) for transportation to the work site to meet the production rates dictated by the aggressive schedule.

The construction of the Flag Landing fuel dock was completed on schedule as a critical internal milestone even with an acute design flaw being exposed during construction.

The Navy’s environmental concerns promoted the implementation of a plan to construct fish habitats in shallow bay waters. This plan required a change order for the recycling of demolished concrete piles for the construction of the habitats. We were able to construct these habitats to the agency’s specifications at the shallow tidal site by using our specialized marine equipment.

The construction of the wharf required driving of both steel and concrete piling through rip rap and rock to the exacting tolerances specified. The use of derrick barges and material barges to transport piling to the site enabled construction to be performed without interference to the adjacent land side construction area. Management Challenges

R. E. Staite identified the Flag Landing fuel dock design flaw before it impacted the schedule and worked closely with the A&E to change the design to meet the user’s requirements.

Demolition of Pier J/K entailed cutting off of the concrete piling below the pile cap while the 20 to 30 ton pile cap was supported by barge mounted crane. R. E. Staite chose to use a hydraulically operated pile shear. The equipment available to shear off the 1200 plus bearing piling would have required personnel to be in precarious if not dangerous locations to close and pin the gate on the shear each time it was placed around a piling. To safely perform this work RES engineered and designed modifications to a standard pile shear to incorporate a remote controlled hydraulic operated gate and pin system. This allowed personnel to remain in a safe location while using the shear to successfully cut the numerous concrete piling even under water. The modifications to the shear are now available as a standard attachment on this piece of equipment.

The concrete pile heads disintegrated using standard pulling methods. The equipment and technique used to pull the concrete pilling was modified to meet the varied conditions encountered. R. E. Staite developed a method of jetting with high pressure water and compressed air then pulling up to 100 tons with a vibratory hammer. The original hammer was replaced with a more powerful model that was modified onsite to enhance its gripping ability without crushing the concrete piles.