Currently under construction, the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal (NBMCT) will be the first purpose built offshore wind logistics port in North America. In order to become an essential logistics hub for the growing offshore wind industry in the Northeast, this terminal was designed not only for immediate use but also for operational support and service to future generations of offshore wind turbines. For this reason, the bulkhead was designed to support the use of crawler cranes capable of picking 500 tonnes at a distance of 30 meters. This paper discusses the circular cofferdam bulkhead design and its relation to the specific geology and logistics requirements of New Bedford Harbor. At quayside the cofferdams are protected by a reinforced concrete relieving platform on steel pipe piles. The authors discuss the uniqueness of this system design and its responsiveness to the requirements set forth by the offshore wind industry and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
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