Building in a Historic District with 50 historically significant structures will require sensitivity to historic preservation and navigating site geology.
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is set to receive more than $634 million in federal funding for critical power and water infrastructure improvements from a Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic award.
The Navy’s oldest continually operating shipyard on Seavey Island, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River between Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, N.H., overhauls, repairs and modernizes the Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines.
“Maintaining nuclear support facilities and executing complex dry-dock operations requires redundant, high-capacity power and water utilities” for environmental safety, to protect assets and prevent failures,” says Russ Gagner, director of SIOP at the 278-acre shipyard.
Construction for the P-1080 project is set to begin in October with completion expected by December 2031, JC Kreidel, director of public affairs and communications, NAVFAC Atlantic, told ENR. The firm fixed-price contract was awarded to 1080 Constructures of Omaha, Neb. to support on-base construction.
P-1080 is a key part of Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program Dept. (SIOP), the Navy’s long-term effort to modernize infrastructure at its four public shipyards.
The multiyear, phased project includes “upgrades and modifications to the shipyard’s power distribution system, energy storage and on-site generation to increase electrical capacity, capability and resilience,” says Michael Morris, a NAVFAC Atlantic spokesman in a statement. The project also includes substation renovation, installation of natural gas generators, and installation of new 12-in to 16-in water mains. A new water tower will provide additional capacity in support of periodically higher demand at the shipyard.
Due to “operational security reasons,” Kreidel could not provide specifics about the microgrid expansion, for instance, or the water tower’s capacity.
NAVFAC is “the Navy ‘s facilities and expeditionary systems command, delivering the planning, design, construction, sustainment and environmental services that support fleet readiness, warfighter capability and shore infrastructure resilience worldwide,” says Morris.
On-Yard Upgrades
Working on a constrained on-yard island project site with “significant underground utility construction will require careful coordination, says Lee Enzastiga, SIOP deputy director, NAVFAC Atlantic.
Maintaining a live, mission-critical facility will be key for work “performed in an urban industrial setting while the facility remains fully operational throughout construction,” Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Deputy Officer in Charge of Construction Nate Maher told ENR.
The plan will include temporary utility lines and coordinate cutovers that allow electrical and water infrastructure to be replaced under live conditions with minimal interruption to PNSY’s mission,” Maher says.
Careful sequencing of work zones around daily shipyard operations is also critical. “Thousands of personnel, deliveries and normal operations rely on the same roadways and structures every day,” he adds.
The shipyard generates power daily as part of a combined heat and power microgrid. Such power is “seasonally balanced with steam demands of the shipyard” and is used for campus heating, dehumidification, industrial processes and turbine drive for compressed air production, says Russ Gagner, director, SIOP, in the statement.
Site Requirements
Constructing in a historic district will require navigating site geology and historic preservation needs. Fifty structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to Military Installations website. The shipyard’s 120-year-old, uniquely designed granite pump house has a copper roof that opens to provide access to the pumps, according to a Digital Visual Information article. Thomas Edison designed the original pumps.
“Rocky subsurface conditions, a high-water table and the shipyard’s historic designation require specialized construction monitoring to protect existing structures, preserve archaeological and historic resources and meet environmental requirements throughout the project,” Maher says.
During World War I, shipwrights built the L8, the first submarine built at a U.S. Navy shipyard, and in World War II, they built more than 78 submarines, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Historical Foundation says.
“Recapitalizing aging infrastructure directly supports America’s undersea warfare capability and long-term readiness,” says Keith Barbish, SIOP program director. By performing projects such as P-1080, “NAVFAC is helping deliver the infrastructure SIOP requires to ensure the Navy has the industrial capacity necessary to maintain modern nuclear-powered submarines and support fleet readiness for years to come.”
