Dry Dock for the U.S. Navy

Abstract

The great modern aircraft carriers are so large that it is difficult to repair them in the existing dry docks. This has made it necessary to build a new dock, suitable for these huge ships. The new dock is 360 ms long, 55 ms wide and 18.5 ms deep and is situated at the Navy Dockyards in Bremerton. In the initial phase of this project two working docks, 48 ms wide, were constructed on each side of the intended dock. A second phase of the work includes the construction of the mooring wharf. The modern installations of the new dock will provide all that is necessary for the repair of the carriers, so that the dock and its ancillaries will constitute a vast economic and functional unit. Various designs and locations were initially studied, as the bottom of the bay has layers of mud and sand of varying texture, which indicated possible difficulties in constructing the foundations. The highest stratum which was regarded as acceptable for supporting the dock consists of a layer of sedimentary glaciar detritus. The dock was finally located at the highest part of this soil formation. The project implied two alternatives. In one of them a sufficient concrete mass would be used to ensure the stability of the structure due to gravity, and in the other, the water pressure would take part of the load of the dock, although the dock would be able to fill up and empty efficiently. The dredging and concreting have been carried out with conventional, though powerful and up to date, equipment, and fill material has been placed by hydraulic means.