For an owner thinking of building a marina or rebuilding an existing marina, the new Attenuator Planning Tool is a sensible way to kick off or accelerate a project.
By Robert Wilkes
The new Attenuator Planning Tool was developed by Bellingham Marine and SmithGroupJJR. It saves time and money; a lot of time and money. A pre-construction evaluation process would normally take weeks and run up a tidy number of engineering hours. Using the Attenuator Planning Tool takes about four or five minutes and is free. The tool answers key questions about wave attenuation in normal and extreme weather conditions. The resulting data is directly related to the cost and feasibility of the project.
While the underlying physics is complex, the interface is user friendly. Owners are guided through the process by a Bellingham Marine representative.
Technology Development
The system was a cooperative project by Bellingham Marine and SmithGroupJJR. Jack Cox has 40 years of experience in marina and harbor engineering and wrote a book on floating wave attenuators. He’s also one of the authors of “Planning and Design Guidelines for Small Craft Harbors,” the current standard for marina layout and design.
Margaret Boshek is also an accomplished and comprehensively trained coastal engineer with a talent for building computer-based analysis tools. She encoded the system and created the user-friendly interface for both the Attenuator Planning Tool and the Wind/Wave Analysis Program. The system allows the user to change the variables and test multiple design choices quickly. Once the required data is loaded in, the user can vary a number of factors and see the effects a few seconds later.
Learn the powerful secrets of the super successful marina owner. Integrate his habits into your marina business and obtain extraordinary success.
Staying relevant is the single most important thing a marina can do to keep their current tenants happy and to attract new ones.
How many do you already have in place? Which ones do you need to pick-up?
1. Prudent, realistic planning
It is often said that a failure to plan is a plan for failure. The root cause of nearly every business disaster is mistakenly pursuing short-term goals ahead of long-term ones.
Stop operating season to season and bring the bigger picture into focus.
Most marinas have a tendency to react to yesterday’s problems but top performing marinas keep their focus on the 10-year horizon. Sure, they fix problems when they come up, but they don’t let the little things distract their focus from the big picture.
A solid, long-term plan will help you maintain focus on your goals rather than on any minor setbacks. It will also help keep you organized and on task.
2. Commitment to long-term property health
Nobody wants to pay slip fees at a marina that is outdated and falling apart. Even the best quality facilities require maintenance and periodic refreshment.
Marina owners who take measures to intelligently enhance and improve their facilities on a year-to-year basis effectively safeguard their businesses against the impact of a recession.
Whether you are an investor, developer, owner, operator or just someone interested in the industry, this is one marina development FAQ you won’t want to miss. The pros at Bellingham Marine (and a few of the company’s trusted engineers) tackle owners’ top 12 challenging site questions.
A design/build, single source approach to marina development is often the best way to keep project costs down and meet tight deadlines.
Topics Covered
- Extending existing docks
- Mitigating wave from boat traffic
- Building for high density
- Building and operating in freezing temperatures
- Building in tropical, high-salinity environments
- Rebuilding on a tight budget
- Placement and design, launch docks for human-powered craft
- Options for meeting grating requirements and bans on treated wood
- Building for mixed-use
- Dock that will ground out at low tide
- Dealing with debris on rivers
- Extending pile height
If you don’t find the answers to your question, contact us. Every site is unique and comes with its own questions. We love to talk about marina design and would love the opportunity to talk with you about any questions you have.
Naples City Dock has joined the masses in trading up their aging fixed docks to Unifloat concrete docks. The City’s decision to switch to floating was influenced by customer request.
Naples, Florida, USA – 26 June 2018 – A popular Naples landmark is debuting a radical facelift. The sought-after changes created such a buzz among boaters that there was a waiting list before the facility even opened.
A brightly painted dockmaster’s office, restroom/laundry facility and a large gazebo each site on match-cast floating platforms by Bellingham Marine.
Bellingham Marine, working with Kelly Brothers Marine Construction and Turrell Hall and Associates, finished reconstruction in March of this year.
“Hurricane Irma caused a delay on the delivery of the docks,” shared Todd Turrell, principal at Turrell Hall and Associates. “It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the project because the docks were spared any possible damage, unlike many other structures in Naples.”
The marina, now whole again, boasts the best in modern marina design. A brightly painted dockmaster’s office, restroom/laundry facility and large gazebo each sit on a match-cast floating platform. The structures were built to withstand 170mph winds.
“A new high-speed fueling system together with many other improvements, such as FRP thru-rods, has made the new facility one of the finest municipal marinas in southwest Florida,” remarked Steve Ryder, Bellingham Marine manager of project development. Continue Reading…
Bellingham Marine and NSW officials settle local residents’ apprehensions with tasteful rebuild of community marina.
Sydney, NSW, Australia – 20 June 2018 – Proving that you can’t keep a good marina down, the century old Elizabeth Bay Marina recently opened again in its new incarnation.
Local residents swell with pride over the revitalized Elizabeth Bay Marina. Bellingham Marine and the NSW government worked together to honour the public wishes to maintain the quaint vibe of the marina.
The marina is located in Elizabeth Bay, a harbourside suburb of Sydney. The facility and its wood pontoons were in a state of disrepair. The NSW government decided it was time to do some upgrades to improve the marina’s functionality and available amenities. Among the concerns voiced were those of safety due to the deterioration of the docks.
Residents worried the marina would be turned into a superyacht behemoth. They didn’t want to lose the serene atmosphere of the affluent neighborhood. Past proposals had sought to increase the marina size from nine berths to over 40 berths for boats up to 30 metres long. Homeowners were adamant that the marina not be filled with large party boats that would block the view of the waterfront and cause noise disturbances.
“When the project was first raised, there was much concern expressed by local people,” said one homeowner. “The finished result is a credit to those involved and we now have a new facility that the local community can be proud of.”
Bellingham Marine Australia worked with the authorities to develop a layout that would satisfy everyone involved. The new facility only grew to 13 berths, those ranging from 12 to 15 metres. There are also 47 swing moorings surrounding the marina as well as a 4 metre wide skirted wave attenuator to protect the site.