US Navy advances $30 bln aircraft carrier dry dock plan at Puget Sound

Concerned by the lack of docks on the West Coast capable of servicing large vessels such as aircraft carriers, the U.S. Navy is advancing plans to build a new dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The Navy recently published a Sources Sought notice for a massive, multi-award contract — worth up to $30 billion — for the multi-mission dry dock.

Background and Purpose

The dock is part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, which aims to modernize the service’s four long-neglected shipyards:

• Portsmouth, Virginia
• Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• Kittery, Maine
• Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF)

The contract is for five years, plus three one-year options.

“The Multi-Mission Dry Dock is a fully pressure-relieved dry dock capable of accommodating shipyard repair services for the newest Ford-class aircraft carrier, Nimitz-class carriers, and other surface and subsurface ships served by PSNS & IMF,” according to the Sources Sought notice.

West Coast Capacity Gaps

The project was spurred by the need to service Ford-class carriers on the West Coast.

“The Navy does not currently have the capacity and capability to perform depot-level maintenance on a Gerald R. Ford-class carrier in the Pacific Northwest,” according to the Navy’s Multi-Mission Dry Dock website.

The capability to service even older carriers is limited at Puget Sound:

“The only dry dock on the West Coast able to accommodate a current Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is Dry Dock 6 (DD6), which does not meet seismic resiliency standards and cannot fully accommodate Ford-class carriers.”

Contract Details

The multiple-award construction contract (MACC) includes several task orders that typically range between $2 billion and $6 billion each. However, there may be smaller task orders for early contractor involvement and alternative technical concepts.

“The focus of this MACC will be the construction of a new proposed Multi-Mission Dry Dock at PSNS & IMF, located at Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) Bremerton, Washington,” the Sources Sought notice said.

Located within the existing Dry Dock 3 and Piers 6 and 7, the project includes:

• Dry dock drainage, dewatering, and flooding systems
• A caisson
• Roadways and rail networks
• Portal crane track
• Access and egress elements
• Mechanical, electrical, and communications systems
• Support buildings
• Utility routing tunnels

The proposed project also includes demolition of facilities and utilities.

Task Order Breakdown

The Navy expects the following task order sequence:

1. Task Order 1: Dredging, as well as work on piers, buildings, and utilities
2. Task Order 2: Demolition of Dry Dock 3 and construction of the multi-mission dry dock
3. Task Order 3: Infrastructure, such as electrical substations, utility tunnels, and building crane rails
4. Task Order 4: The dock caisson

Historical Context

Puget Sound has been a fixture for the Navy for more than a century. It began in 1891, when the Navy bought 190 acres for $10,000 (about $367,000 today) to create Naval Station Puget Sound. The station became a shipyard in 1900 and was the Navy’s only West Coast repair facility until 1941.

“Between 1917 and 1969, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard constructed a total of 85 ships, including the largest vessels on the West Coast,” the Navy said.

About the Author

Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him at theuncommondefense.com. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.