Floating Rubber Fenders for All-Tide Moorage of Vessels

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities have recently completed design and construction of several major ferry terminal improvement projects for the Alaska Marine Highway System that utilize large diameter, cylindrical shaped floating fenders. These vertically oriented floating fenders provide an energy absorbing breasting surface and a means for attachment of mooring lines. The fender floats up and down with the tide and the ship, allowing unattended line handling through daily tidal height variations that exceed 26-feet. The floating fenders offer an alternative means to safely breast and moor vessels for long periods of time where large tidal variations occur. This paper discusses the design parameters, construction features and functional characteristics of these floating fenders as they relate to the mooring of large ferry vessels. Case histories for three recently constructed ferry terminal facilities are provided.