From bulkheads to dolphins, mooring buoys or marinas, all waterfront structures pose unique challenges. Urban’s team has analyzed various waterfront structures and designed solutions for the marine environment.

Founded in Philadelphia, our Ports and Waterways group got its start rehabilitating historic piers. When a pier has stood for over 100 years and starting from scratch is not an option, rehabilitation poses unique challenges. We have honed our technical skills on these structures, building a nuanced understanding of historic design methods, material preservation, and load paths. 

Underwater condition inspections are the first line of defense for owners, giving a complete picture of the dock’s condition and providing a quantitative and qualitative assessment to develop priorities. Our professional engineers have led underwater condition inspections across the United States and Canada, inspecting all commonly used materials in a variety of conditions. Our team always dives with an OSHA-compliant three-man dive crew, and comes equipped with ultrasonic gauges to measure remaining steel thickness, sounding and coring equipment for timber and concrete, and full radio and video communication. Our team knows how to satisfy municipal inspection ordinances, and helped develop the pier inspection ordinances in the City of Philadelphia.

Before cargo transfer can begin, all vessels need a safe place to berth and moor. Our team uses modern software and the latest techniques to design berthing and mooring solutions to overcome everyday environmental loads, passing vessel forces, and most extreme event loadings. We have developed berthing and mooring solutions for all vessel types, from shallow-freeboard barges to large-displacement neopanamax vessels, in challenging tidal rivers and coastal areas. When building new dolphin or wharf structures is not feasible, we can retrofit existing structures to receive new engineered fenders and mooring bollards, and design reinforcement as needed.

Nothing can derail a successful construction project like poor geotechnical conditions. Our geotechnical knowledge allows us to craft specifications to suit each project and interpret dynamic test data in real time. This allows for rapid confirmation of pile capacities and minimizes construction downtime. We aim to balance the cost of preliminary geotechnical investigations with the potential savings of confirmed pile capacities.

Has your dock been damaged by an ice floe, a piece of flood-borne debris, or a vessel that lost power? Our experience in marine forensic engineering enables us to focus our efforts effectively after damage. We quickly document conditions, analyze the event and remaining structures, and provide a post-incident report. We excel at assisting in post-incident insurance claims and litigation support. Our independent experts have supported all sides of disputes, both as primary experts and non-testifying experts. Whether it’s a weather event, a vessel allision, or a design flaw, our team has seen it.

Waterfront construction poses unique challenges - tides affect work schedules and tremie-pouring concrete can be tricky to navigate. For these reasons, and many more, we train our inspectors on the water so that they can anticipate and manage the challenges that arise during construction. Our proactive approach identifies project challenges before they can grind the schedule to a crawl. We manage projects in real time and focus on communication. This ensures we can leverage our diverse backgrounds to address field conditions quickly and work through construction complication.

Vessels continue to grow in displacement, outclassing the vessels that docks were designed to serve in decades past. While it’s not always feasible to perform wholesale upgrades on the dock, we can test specific elements to give operating recommendations. We have developed procedures to load test and monitor existing bollards and floating buoys, and can deploy this ahead of upcoming service changes.

Our team has a proven track record of successfully permitting and contracting challenging dredging projects and providing effective disposal solutions.

Our network of licensed surveyors can quickly mobilize to conduct single-beam, multi-beam, and sidescan wall surveys, aiding in navigation. With these services, we can calculate dredge volume quantities and identify hazardous obstructions, as well as leaning or damaged bulkhead walls.

We are here to solve the challenges inherent to permitting projects in the floodplain and floodway through H&H modeling and documentation.

As a multidisciplinary engineering company, we can serve as your single prime consultant, seamlessly integrating dock improvements with other upgrades, such as rail, stormwater, and MEP solutions. 

• Container, bulk, and break bulk marine cargo terminals
• Marinas, ferries, and recreational boat harbors
• Public waterfronts and art installations
• Cruise and ferry terminals
• Military ports
• Warehouses and industrial buildings
• Intermodal facilities