Construction launches on $152M Port Everglades bulkhead project

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Work has begun on the $152 million Port Everglades Bulkhead Replacement project in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, based on Sept. 11 information launch from U.Ok.-based Mott MacDonald, which served because the designer on Section 1 of the job. 

The work covers roughly 2,840 linear toes of newly designed bulkheads at Berths 1, 2 and three and incorporates future-proofing options, based on Mott MacDonald. That features the flexibility to lift berths on the port by as a lot as 5 toes to account for sea stage rise. 

Groups additionally designed the bulkheads to outlive hurricane circumstances, comparable to hydrostatic drawdowns, or reverse storm surges, which may end up in injury or slumping when the standard water stress on the seaside of a wall instantly drops. Mott MacDonald additionally factored in doable wave overtopping in its design. 

Port resilience has garnered elevated consideration because of the impacts of local weather change. In 2024, the U.S. DOT released $830 million to make transportation techniques extra resilient, together with at ports. 

At Port Everglades, the bulkheads’ varied design options will enable the port to accommodate bigger vessels with deeper drafts, based on the Mott MacDonald launch. One instance is Princess Cruises’ new Star Princess, a 4,300 passenger, 178,000-ton Sphere Class vessel, based on Journey Pulse. 

The design can even allow development to happen whereas the terminal continues to be energetic, based on Mott MacDonald. The undertaking “ensures long-term infrastructure vitality for one of many nation’s most important seaports,” mentioned Kris Pagán, Mott MacDonald’s principal undertaking supervisor, marine buildings, within the information launch. 

The existing bulkheads, constructed in the 1950s, are previous their helpful lifespan, based on the undertaking’s web site. The brand new partitions might be positioned outdoors the prevailing bulkheads earlier than crews fill the hole between them. The buildings are anticipated to final 75 years or extra. 

Managing basic contractor Moss Development of Fort Lauderdale awarded the $80 million development portion of the job to Houston-based specialty firm Orion Group Holdings final yr, based on a separate information launch. 

Extra broadly, a Moss/Kiewit joint venture was named as basic contractor on the bigger, $437 million growth of the port that began in 2017. 

Development prices for the bulkhead alternative might be coated by income from port charges collected from cruise, cargo, power and actual property clients, based on the port. Work on Section 1 is predicted to be full by December 2026.