Bristol Harbor Group, Marine Design Center Extend Partnership

Bristol Harbor Group Inc. (BHGI) announced March 3 that it was recently awarded an indefinite delivery contract for naval architecture and marine engineering services for the Philadelphia Engineer District’s Marine Design Center (MDC). This contract continues BHGI’s partnership with the MDC, which has been in effect since 2010. Some of the projects BHGI has worked on for the Corps include retrofits, finite element analyses, electric load analyses, vibration analyses and computational fluid dynamics analyses, as well as barge, towboat and dredge design.

BHGI and the MDC team have worked together on a wide variety of projects both for the Corps and other federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and NASA. Some of the projects included designing and engineering the modifications to lengthen the NASA Barge Pegasus (from 260 feet to 310 feet) in order to carry the Space Launch System from Louisiana to Cape Kennedy, Fla.; investigating the viability of using various types of biodiesel on Corps vessels; performing structural checks and providing structural modifications for crane barges; and performing an acoustical analysis of a replacement towboat, among other tasks.

Some of the more recent projects BHGI has worked on include designing the new mat boat, Armor One, for the Corps’ Mat Sinking Unit; designing, sizing and specifying details for a wicket lifting system and maintenance crane for the Olmsted Locks and Dams Wicket Lifter; developing the design for the Quad Cities crane barge which was recently delivered; design work and technical assistance to modify and develop a multipurpose vessel design for the National Park Service serving the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island; and developing a contract level design for the Driftmaster II, which will include a new hybrid-diesel-electric power system. BHGI was tasked to perform a ship check on the existing Bank Grader Unit and to develop contract level design drawings and calculations for a floating crane supporting a dragline machine. BHGI was also tasked to develop a Waterways Commerce Cutter ATON Indicative Design.

“BHGI is pleased to have been selected as the most highly qualified firm to provide services to the Corps on this IDC contract,” the firm said in the announcement. “BHGI has built a strong professional relationship with the MDC over the past decade and looks forward to being tasked with a variety of challenging projects over the next five years.”