NAVFAC Wharf Bravo

The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base port provides husbanding services to visiting operating forces of the U.S. Navy, other services, and NATO. Wharf Bravo specifically supports and provides berthing for large visiting vessels and offloading operations for supply barges. This project’s goal was to improve the base’s capacity and better position the installation to respond to U.S. Southern Command contingency requirements.

The $24 million repair and maintenance measures included steel sheet pile repair; repair of sections of spalled concrete; replacement of steel fender framing; replacement of missing chains on the pneumatic camels; and cleaning and recoating and/or replacing deteriorated mooring fittings. Soil stabilization measures, such as deep soil mixing and mitigating liquefaction potential in the area behind the existing sheet pile wall, were updated to meet site seismic requirements. Dredge depth was increased by six feet.

A new steel sheet pile wall was installed to create a single linear facility. The wall, designed to join steel sheet pile and king pile together using extruded connectors, was secured with a single row of soil anchors. The king pile was driven first, to a depth necessary to achieve the required passive toe resistance. Steel sheet pile was added in shorter lengths to act as a barrier for the soils or grade separation. The shorter length effectively reduced the quantity of steel required and decreased driving time.