Fender System Evaluation and Upgrade at Waterfront Street Terminal

This paper presents the design and constructibility considerations associated with the fender system upgrade at the Waterfront Street Terminal in New Haven, Connecticut. In order to provide improved service to its customers through a dock capable of receiving larger vessels, the terminal owner, Magellan Midstream Partners, LP (Magellan), embarked on a project to evaluate the capacity of its existing berthing structures and implement repair and upgrade measures to the facility to accommodate vessels up to 85,000 deadweight tons (DWT) in size, thereby allowing it better serve the needs of its customers. The ship dock at the Magellan terminal was built in the early 1950s, and comprises a walkway leading to a steel pile-supported loading platform, a total of eight steel H-pile clusters that serve as breasting and mooring dolphins, and steel pile-supported catwalks connecting the aforementioned structures. Four breasting dolphins, against which the vessels are berthed, exist along the outboard face of the dock. Four mooring dolphins exist to the north and south of the breasting dolphins. The existing fender system at the breasting dolphins comprised a series of three steel wales welded to each dolphin, to which a timber fender panel was bolted. The project commenced with an initial study phase, which included the collection and review of existing data, performance of an above-water inspection, and observation of typical berthing operations at the facility. The engineering and design phase of the project included an underwater inspection—conducted to confirm the study's findings and gather further information on existing conditions— and the development of contract documents for fender system upgrades and structural repairs to the breasting dolphins. The construction phase of the project, in which the prescribed measures were implemented, was completed in July 2005.