Project Overview
PND provided expert planning and design services to Crowley Maritime Corporation to identify and evaluate numerous options for replacing its failing dock. Huge sheets of ice covering Kotzebue Sound break apart each spring, while massive 4-foot-thick ice floes are pushed from the Kobuk and Noatak rivers into the sound. Scour was undermining the Crowley Dock’s existing tied-back sheet-pile bulkhead, with several areas suffering from corrosion and historical damage.
Faced with the looming risk of catastrophic dock failure, Crowley enlisted PND to assess the dock’s condition, identify erosion mechanisms, and implement an emergency temporary repair that enabled Crowley Fuels to continue bulkhead operations with minimal disruption throughout the season. As part of the planning process, PND and Crowley met with multiple groups that could potentially be affected by the project.
After thorough analysis, a new, proprietary PND-designed OPEN CELL SHEET PILE™ (OCSP™) bulkhead was selected as the lowest-cost permanent solution. The OCSP™ bulkhead provided deeper draft and increased dock space for safe handling and storage, among other advantages. To further reduce risks, enhance safety, and expand working space, the new dock design encapsulated the old structure. New sheet pile was installed seaward of the existing dock, effectively enveloping it and eliminating the need for costly demolition. The project was meticulously sequenced to ensure dock operations would remain unaffected.
Our Role
- Waterfront Engineering: designed an OCSP™ system to increase dock space and deepen draft while minimizing costs
- Environmental Consulting: secured permits and created a mitigation plan to ensure construction activities and noise minimized disturbances to marine mammals and local wildlife
- Construction Support Services: collaborated with construction contractors to adhere to project schedule and budget constraints
- OPEN CELL SHEET PILE: designed an OCSP bulkhead around the existing dock to save costs
Preserving the Environment and Proactively Conquering Challenges
Protecting the waters and wildlife of Kotzebue Sound was one of PND’s top priorities throughout the dock replacement project, as these resources are essential to the local community. PND also played a key role in the extensive federal permitting process by gathering biological data, identifying at-risk wildlife, and developing a marine mammal management and mitigation plan, which included marine mammal observation and underwater sound monitoring during construction.
“When the planning and permitting were completed and the construction finally began, I don’t think we could have had a better advocate on site than (PND). I am sure PND has had more technically challenging jobs, but for Crowley this was an operationally important, highly visible, and politically sensitive project, and we are very glad to have had PND as a partner on it.”
Despite facing challenges such as permafrost, permitting complexities, property issues, river and sea ice, construction hurdles, coordination with multiple stakeholders with competing needs, and tight budget and schedule constraints, the project was completed on time and within budget.
Project Phases
sequenced to allow continuous dock use
