More than 130 contractors attend open house for marine terminal work

Posted August 2, 2010
By Brittany Brown
Norfolk District Public Affairs

08/02/2010 - PORTSMOUTH, Va. — More than 130 contractors, subcontractors and suppliers attended the Craney Island Eastward Expansion Open House held last month at Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel & Waterfront Conference Center here.

Contractors came to Portsmouth from as far away as Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois, Georgia, Colorado, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Carolina and the District of Columbia to attend the event.

Hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, and the Virginia Port Authority, or VPA, the open house provided attendees a unique and effective opportunity to network and learn about bid package information for upcoming contracting opportunities slated to be a part of the 522-acre Craney Island Eastward Expansion project.

A project of dual purpose, the eastward expansion will extend the life of Craney Island as a dredged material management area and provide land for construction of a new marine terminal.

Norfolk District Commander Col. Andrew Backus provided opening remarks during the event, citing the strong partnership with 50/50 cost-sharing partner VPA to construct the new marine terminal using innovative and cutting-edge technologies.

The multi-million dollar marine eastward expansion construction project calls for the expertise of firms specializing in dredging, earthwork, port construction, in addition to resources provided by aggregate suppliers of rock and sand.

Jeffrey Florin, VPA's deputy executive director for operations and chief operating officer, provided information about significant milestones for the project, including the Nov. 2007 approval of the Water Resources Development Act and the Sept. 2009 Congressional appropriation of $100,000 for dike construction.

VPA and Craney Island Design Partner representatives Ira Brotman and Andy Kondysar provided project updates, including an overview of the selected design, material quantities, permits and project schedule.

The initial construction contract, which includes construction of the containment cell cross dikes, will be advertised this summer and is expected to be awarded in the early fall.

Additional contracts expected for bid this year include the first environmental mitigation project and naval pipeline relocation. The mitigation project includes the creation of 10 acres of wetlands from an upland area along Paradise Creek in Portsmouth. The Navy fuel and oil waste pipeline relocation calls for the installation of approximately 10,000 linear feet of an eight- and 10-inch steel pipeline, 800 linear feet of which require underwater construction.

VPA and NAO previously hosted a contractor open house Feb. 21, 2008 to provide firms with information about the eastward expansion project.

Presentations and materials from the July 22 contractor open house are available online for viewing and download at http://craneyisland.info/Contractors.html.