Bellingham Marine’s company strategy is fairly simple; provide each client with a solution that provides the best value for their specific project and criteria. In order to find a balance between price and performance, each project must be looked at through its own unique lens.
This innovative berthing solution for mid-sized bulk carries provided the client with a best value alternative to the original design concept.
The company relies heavily upon the expertise of its employees, its experience in the industry, and its network of outside professionals to provide each client with a best value option.
Innovation is embraced as a means to achieve “best value” rather than a goal in and of itself. It is this focus on value and ability to provide innovative solutions that allows Bellingham Marine to excel in its niche market and to be comfortable and successful in taking on unique, one-off projects.
In 2013, Bellingham Marine was approached by a major supplier of high quality construction aggregates. The company was looking for an innovative solution for mooring its Panamax bulk carriers at its new import terminal at the Port of Long Beach in California. The existing berth structures at the site were designed for barges and would not work for what the company needed. They needed a solution that would allow them to moor mid-sized bulk carries and support an efficient off-loading operation.
With a reputation for leading the marina industry in design excellence, Bellingham Marine looks toward the future with its eyes firmly fixed on innovation and user experience.
Bellingham Marine now has an option for an FRP through-rod. The innovative product provides clients with a non-corrosive alternative to the traditional galvanized through-rod.
The company’s unwavering commitment to customer service, engineering excellence, and its R&D program are key elements of Bellingham’s success in the marina industry and some of the key motivations behind buying a Bellingham Marine dock system.
“Our R&D efforts have long focused on improving user experience,” remarked Bellingham Marine President and CEO, Everett Babbitt. “Higher freeboards for greater user comfort; increased load capacities to support large crowds and vehicles on the docks; improved aesthetics and design details to set high-end facilities apart; and continued product refinement to promote greater longevity have been at the core of many of the company’s product advancements over the past ten years.”
“Now, new technologies and major breakthroughs in engineering are allowing us to elevate our product offerings and improve user experience on a whole new level,” added Babbitt.
Typically on our blog I like to write technical or educational pieces that have an overall focus on marina design best practice, innovation and industry trends.
Improvements made to the Unifloat concrete floating dock system have improved the system’s durability, longevity and performance.
I make a conscious effort to stay away from brand specific pieces as I do not want to compromise the credibility of our blog by including sales pitches.
This article strays a bit from my traditional focus but I thought it still worthwhile to share as many of our readers are familiar with the Unifloat concrete dock system and may have the same question one of our recent clients had – What is the difference between the Unifloat system you produce today vs. the one you manufactured thirty to forty years ago?
For all intents and purposes, to the untrained eye, today’s Unifloat dock system looks very similar to the ones manufactured by the company in the mid to late 1900’s – after all, today’s Unifloat is characterized by the same overall design concept as the original. The modules are still made from concrete, most commonly connected by treated timber walers, which are held in place by through-rods.
Terminal sites are usually more exposed than your typical marina and the loads placed on the docks from heavy foot traffic, complex gangway and railing systems and not to mention large vessels are much greater than in your typical small boat harbor. Thus, the docks are beefy – built extra tough, and are designed to handle extreme conditions.
Stanley Bay Ferry Terminal
The floating ferry terminal in Stanley Bay features a dual level freeboard.
Over the past 12 months, Bellingham Marine has completed a handful of floating ferry and cruise ship terminals. With so many terminal installations going in worldwide, I thought it worth a closer look at a few of them. Their design showcases some of the most extreme technologies, engineering and design options available in the world of floating platforms and dock systems.
Situated in the heart of Auckland, is the new Stanley Bay ferry terminal built for Auckland Transport. The terminal services ferries between downtown Auckland and the North Shore. The terminal’s post-tensioned floating concrete platform, which is used for loading and unloading passengers, measures 4.8 meters (16 ft) wide by 15 meters (49 ft) long.
A sturdy concrete dock system can give firefighters a safe platform from which to fight a marina fire.
A recent survey asked marina operators what kept them up at night. A common response mixed with the stresses of managing the day to day operations was fire. The concern was elevated in the off-season with boats left unattended and heaters running, but the reality is, the risk of a fire is always present.
The question is what can you do to reduce the risk of fire at your marina?
To reduce your risk of fire you must place your focus on preventive maintenance and staff and boater education. You need to work towards building a community that understands the benefits associated with practicing routine maintenance and proper use of equipment and has a common goal of keeping the marina safe. The more eyes you can train to spot potential hazards the safer your facility will be.