FLOATING DRYDOCK DOUBLES AS LAUNCHING PLATFORM

A new drydock scheduled to be completed in the summer of 1975, is under construction at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans. It is unusual because of its enormous size, its one piece pontoon construction, its side transfer capability even while remaining essentially afloat, the difficult problem of its mooring to withstand 5 knots of river current, and its individual unit wing construction. The new dock will receive new ships from shore, operating in the Mississippi River, which undergoes about 17 ft of variation in river stage. The dock has a pontoon 900 ft long, 250 ft wide, and 32 ft deep, with a lifting capacity of 81,000 long tons. It can be enlarged in the future to 1200. The structural framing was designed by Crandall Dry Dock Engineers using transverse plate girders 32 ft deep, spaced 30 ft on center to coincide with 31 transfer ways ashore. The breakthrough represented by the Litton and now the Avondale dock for moving large ships from an open land construction area to a floating dry dock for launching permits the single dock to serve for a multiplicity of vessels without the dimensional limitations of the commonly used basin dry dock.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/10480594
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • Crandall, P S
• Publication Date: 1975-5

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 74-76
• Serial:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Volume: 45
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0885-7024
  • Serial URL: http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/newce/html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drydock operations; Drydocks; Floating docks; Structural design
• Old TRIS Terms: Drydock design
• Subject Areas: Design; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00097591
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Society of Civil Engineers
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 29 1975 12:00AM