FiberPILE Shores Up United States Ferry System, Replaces Fracture-Prone Timber Piles At Jamestown-Scotland Terminal Facilities
The United States Department of Transportation’s latest report —2016 Highlights of Ferry Operations—tells us that a total of 118.9 million passengers and 25.0 million vehicles were transported by ferry in 2015. A resurgence of ferry use was also identified. In 2017 New York City released plans to add 10 new ferry terminals and 19 new vessels to support 4.6 million trips across six routes. Since then, ferry boats have increased in size and environmental regulations have tightened. These factors have created the “perfect storm” for ferry owners like the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to look for alternatives to the use of timber pile dolphins. The agency built a dolphin replacement program for the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry around fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material and production methods to increase lifecycle cost effectiveness, reduce service interruptions and maintain the ferry system’s safe operation. Following a comprehensive study of material options, Composite Advantage’s FiberPILE product was selected. More than 296 fracture-prone timber piles were replaced with eight large-diameter FRP monopile dolphins at one-third the lifecycle costs of wood. READ MORE>>>