In a recent announcement, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ coastal institute known as COPRI (Coasts, Oceans, Port, and Rivers Institute) announced the winners of its 2011 Project Excellence Award. The Project Excellence Award, in the Large Project category, was awarded to Bellingham Marine, renowned marina builder, and Redpoint Structures, a leading dock engineering firm, for their work on the St. Paul Small Boat Harbor project on St. Paul Island in Alaska. The project was designed and constructed for the Central Bering Sea Fisherman’s Association (CBSFA).
The project consisted of building a functioning harbor to support a local fishing fleet, able to withstand harsh environmental conditions with a long service life and limited maintenance.
According to the announcement made by CORPI, the judges felt the design addressed the difficult environmental conditions associated with the remote project site, including allowing for the removal of the floating dock system during winter months to mitigate the concerns of ice loading.
In addition, judges recognized the team’s use of logistical controls during the construction process and the careful planning of delivery of materials and equipment under weather related and site location constraints. The team was praised for the attention paid to the selection of construction materials and system design to facilitate delivery to the remote site location and the ability to minimize future maintenance requirements.
“It is with great pleasure that we accept this prestigious award on behalf of the entire project team,” said Everett Babbitt, president of Bellingham Marine. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get this project built. We could not be prouder of the team’s efforts and what was accomplished.”
The project team included Bellingham Marine, Redpoint Structures, Dutra Group and the Central Bering Sea Fisherman’s Association.
COPRI’s Project Excellence Award recognizes innovation, through both research methodologies and techniques which decrease negative environmental impacts and demonstrate significant achievement through design, analytical and construction concepts.