Port Infrastructure: Marine Commerce Terminal in New Bedford, MA

摘要

The Marine Commerce Terminal (MCT) in New Bedford, MA is the first port facility in the nation designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container shipping and large specialty marine cargo. The MCT, which is located inside New Bedford Harbor and protected by an USACE hurricane barrier, is in close proximity to offshore wind planning areas along the East Coast that are under consideration for future development. The MCT consists of a 1,200-linear-foot bulkhead system with deep-water access and roughly 20 acres of port terminal space engineered to sustain mobile crane and storage loads that rival the highest capacity ports in the nation. The most demanding requirement of the terminal structure is supporting a ground pressure load of 4,100 psf and the maximized reach of fully loaded cranes (500 tonnes at a distance of 30 meters) to operate right up to the offshore edge of the platform and laterally for the entire 1,000 foot length of the newly constructed facility. As part of construction, the project included the dredging and removal of approximately 280,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and the landside cleanup of 18,000 tons of contaminated soil caused by industrial waste generated during the 1930s and 1940s, a significant environmental benefit. Geotechnical challenges included high bearing pressures, maximizing beneficial reuse of dredged materials, and blasting near sensitive structures. Construction of the MCT was completed in early 2015. This paper discusses the port bulkhead facility design including the uniqueness of the site, dredging considerations, structural design, and geotechnical engineering.