The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard will receive more than $654 million in federal funding for critical energy and water infrastructure improvements from a Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic award.
The Navy’s oldest continuously operating shipyard at Seavey Island, located at the mouth of the Piscataqua River between Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, NH, is tasked with overhauling, repairing and modernizing the Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarines.
“Maintaining nuclear support facilities and running complex drydock operations requires high-capacity, redundant power and water services” for environmental safety, asset protection and failure prevention, says Russ Gagner, director of SIOP at the 278-acre shipyard.
Construction on the P-1080 project will begin in October and is expected to be completed by December 2031, a spokeswoman for NAVFAC Atlantic told ENR. The firm, fixed-price contract was awarded to 1080 Construction of Omaha, Nebraska, to support construction at the base.
P-1080 is a key part of the Department of Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization (SIOP), the Navy’s long-term effort to modernize the infrastructure of its four public shipyards.
The multi-year project includes “upgrades and modifications to the shipyard’s power distribution system, energy storage and on-site generation to increase electrical capacity, capability and resiliency,” NAVFAC Atlantic spokesman Michael Morris said in a statement. It also includes renovating the substation, installing natural gas generators and installing new 12- to 16-inch water lines. A new water tower will provide additional capacity to support periodically higher demand at the shipyard.
Due to “operational security reasons,” a NAVFAC spokeswoman could not provide details on the microgrid expansion, for example, or water tower capacity.
NAVFAC is “Navy Expeditionary Systems Facilities and Command, providing the planning, design, construction, maintenance and environmental services that support fleet readiness, warfighter capability and coastal infrastructure resiliency worldwide,” says Morris.
Updates on the patio
Working on a yard-restricted island project with “major underground utility construction will require careful coordination,” says Lee Enzastiga, SIOP deputy director, NAVFAC Atlantic.
Maintaining a vital and critical facility will be key to the work being “conducted in an urban industrial environment while the facility remains fully operational throughout construction,” Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Deputy Chief of Staff Nate Maher told ENR.
The plan will include temporary service lines and coordinated outages that will allow for the replacement of live electrical and water infrastructure with minimal disruption to PNSY’s mission,” says Maher.
Careful sequencing of work zones around daily shipyard operations is also essential. “Thousands of personnel, deliveries and normal operations rely on the same roads and structures every day,” he adds.
The shipyard generates energy daily as part of a combined heat and electricity microgrid. That power is “seasonally balanced with shipyard steam demands” used for campus heating, dehumidification, industrial processes and turbine drive for compressed air production, SIOP director Russ Gagner said in the release.
Site Requirements
Building in a historic district will require navigating the site’s geology and historic preservation needs. Fifty structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Military Installations website. The shipyard’s 120-year-old uniquely designed granite pump house has a copper roof that opens to give access to the pumps, says a digital visual information article. Thomas Edison designed the original pumps.
“Rocky subsoil conditions, a high water table, and the shipyard’s historic designation require specialized construction monitoring to protect existing structures, preserve archaeological and historic resources, and meet environmental requirements throughout the project,” says Maher.
During World War I, the shipbuilders built the L8, the first submarine built in a US Navy shipyard, and during World War II they built more than 78 submarines, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Historical Foundation says.
“Recapitalization of aging infrastructure directly supports U.S. submarine warfare capability and long-term readiness,” says Keith Barbish, SIOP program director. By undertaking projects like the P-1080, “NAVFAC is helping to provide the infrastructure SIOP requires to ensure the Navy has the industrial capability necessary to sustain modern nuclear-powered submarines and support fleet readiness for years to come.”
