Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest Berth Lima Conversion

Upgrades to Berth Lima at Naval Base Coronado accommodated planned industrial maintenance activities and cold-iron berthing for the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers home-ported in San Diego. Construction included a security building, pump house building, restroom/payphone building, two masonry and steel watch towers, two guard houses, security fencing, high-mast security lighting, upgrades to underground water and electric utilities, and surveillance infrastructure. Waterfront upgrades included the replacement of asphalt with new quayside concrete pavement capable of supporting 40-ton forklifts. The project also involved widening the existing quay wall by two feet and installing 80 new primary fender piles, fender panels, and armor rock.

UES performed an update of preliminary geotechnical investigation, detailed analyses, and evaluation of the proposed concrete pavements, as well as soil/cement treatment of the existing subgrade materials in order to eliminate export of soils and import of aggregate base. Building pad preparation involved mitigation of shallow beach sand materials. Due to the shallow groundwater conditions at the site, high-strength, biaxial, geotextile reinforcement was designed for use in stabilizing local subgrade areas. Upon completion of proper geotechnical mitigation at the site, cost-effective, shallow, reinforced concrete spread foundations and slabs-on-grade were suitable for support of structure improvements. UES provided all requisite onsite inspection of reinforced concrete; masonry; radiographic inspection; inspections of welding roofing and fireproofing; and laboratory testing of soils, concrete, masonry, and steel.