Port of Everett Rail/Barge Transfer Facility Seismic Design, Everett, Washington

A new pier was constructed for the Port of Everett in 2005–2006 as part of a barge-to-rail transfer facility to handle oversized containers up to 35 feet wide, 35 feet tall, or 140 feet long in support of 777 and 787 aircraft assembly at Boeing's Everett plant. The site, located in an ecologically sensitive area, was selected to minimize transit time from the barge to the plant. The 863-foot-long facility included two — 266-foot-long finger piers to support a Rail Mounted Gantry crane (RMG) to lift the containers from barges. The focus of this paper is the seismic design of the pier. A two-level, MOTEMS (Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and Maintenance Standards), displacement-based approach was used. Some of the key seismic design issues included discontinuities between the main pier and the finger piers and a large eccentricity created by significant differences in pile lengths onshore to offshore. This paper provides an interesting case history, which illustrates how the seismic design can be driven by operational requirements.