Breasting dolphin (foreground) with connecting walkway to the mooring dolphin.
Expedited design efforts enables cruise ship visits
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Urban’s marine engineers “burned the midnight oil” in their efforts to design modifications to Philadelphia’s Cruise Ship Terminal (Pier 2 at the former Philadelphia Navy Yard). We had a strict deadline to assure that the pier would be ready for the first cruise ship,” said Ahmad Nadeem, PE, Urban’s project manager.

Helped considerably by Urban’s efforts, the 86,000 ton, 963-foot long, Carnival Legend arrived on schedule on October 22 and set sail for Bermuda the next day.

The design and construction effort was crucial for Philadelphia to secure a contract from Carnival for continued visits next year. This pier will have 13 sailings in 2003.

The pier improvements were part of an overall effort to upgrade the Philadelphia Cruise Ship Terminal to attract more business. The Terminal is operated by the Port of Philadelphia and Camden, a department of the Delaware River Port Authority.

Urban’s $1.5 million project consisted of the design for a new breasting dolphin, mooring dolphin, and connecting walkway. The project extends the length of the pier an extra 150 feet to a total of 1,060 feet to accommodate larger ships, such as the Carnival Legend. The breasting and mooring dolphins are categorized as “rigid” and consist of a group of pilings driven into the water and capped with concrete. The ships rest against a rubber fender installed in the face of the concrete cap.