Marine Masonville Vessel Berth

KEY CHALLENGES & PROJECT DETAILS

• The Project required construction of a new auto berth at the Port of Baltimore’s Masonville/Fairfield Terminal, the auto port ranked number one in the nation;
• Corman Marine replaced the old auto berth, in service for 70 years and capable of supporting only 100 pounds per square foot, with a new berth that supports 1,000 pounds per square foot;
• The new berth is 1,175 feet long and 130 feet wide, 300 feet longer and 20 feet wider than the old berth;
• The scope of work was complex and included demolition, filling, grading, drainage, utilities, paving, erosion and sediment control, storm drains, waterlines, wharf, personnel access platform, moorings, cathodic protection, electrical work, and a new Ro/Ro ramp;
• Corman Marine’s Dredge Division dredged the ship berthing area to a greater depth, removing over 140,000 cubic yards of material.
• Other major activities included setting and driving 30 inch square concrete piles, setting precast caps and deck panels on the concrete piles, formwork for cast-in-place caps at the Ro-Ro, slab-on-grade concrete pavement, and rip rap slope protection.
• This project had many challenges in large part due to the history of the jobsite location;
• The job site location was used for many reasons, including a center for ship construction during the first and second World Wars, as well as a deposit area for rubble from the Great Baltimore Fire;
• These unidentified and unknown obstructions in the water hindered pile driving and dredging;
• Employees required special training to search for hazardous materials, unexploded ordinances, and undeclared underground utilities;
• Pile required special handling due to the length of the H-pile needed for the project (180 thirty-inch square concrete piles ranging from 66 feet to 109 feet in length).