Mat Sinking Unit, Mat Boat

In 2015, through Bristol Harbor Group, Inc.’s (BHGI) IDIQ contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Marine Design Center, Philadelphia District, BHGI was tasked to design, size, and specify details for the new Mat Boat, Mat Assembly Process and Mat Placement Process. The Mat Sinking Unit is located on the Mississippi River; its purpose is to lay a protective overcoat to shield the riverbank from erosion and sloughing. BHGI visited the Mat Sinking Unit to gain an understanding of the current operations. BHGI generated a report that detailed the design rationale for features of the Mat Boat which were being updated. Concept design drawings were produced that detailed the structure and systems on board the Mat Boat. One of BHGI's specialty subcontractors, KP Engineers & Associates, Inc. developed the mooring barge traveling connector system concepts and provided the preliminary HVAC analysis for the Mat Boat.

In 2017, BHGI was subcontracted by SIA Solutions, Inc. to execute the detail design of the Mat Boat for the USACE Mat Sinking Unit project. The Mat Boat design is expected to be completed by the end of 2018. Starting with the concept design from 2015, BHGI has gone through the design spiral a second time to incorporate comments from MDC and the operators. BHGI has also been coordinating with National Robotics Engineering Center of Carnegie Mellon University to ensure that the structure for the mat deck can incorporate the robotics they are designing and the weights are updated with the appropriate numbers. Additionally, monthly meetings allow BHGI to provide updates to the design and gain feedback allowing the design to evolve in a timely manner.