Double-Decked Piers: A New Reality for West Coast Marine Oil Terminals USN P-151 Replace Fuel Pier Project, NBPL, San Diego Bay

While double-deck piers have become a familiar site on the East Coast of the United States and in other areas with low seismicity. They have not been utilized in Southern California. However, a new, double-deck pier will replace an existing U.S. Navy fuel pier (originally constructed in 1908) and serve as a marine oil terminal at Naval Base Point Loma, in California's San Diego Bay. Several modernization, expansion, and rehabilitation schemes have kept the original fuel pier in operation for 105 years. Of the replacement concepts that were presented to the Navy for review, the double-deck pier provides the greatest functionality while remaining within budget and minimizing environmental impacts. The double-deck concept for the subject site had to overcome several design challenges, including large design vessels, geotechnical issues, safe and controlled seismic response, and pile alternative selection. This paper will describe the creative processes and solutions that addressed these issues.