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B & J Marine Group L.L.C.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37931
Phone: 865-202-6686 Fax: 865-531-6573 info@b-j-marinegroup.com www.B-J-MarineGroup.com
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| Frequently Asked Questions - B & J Marine Group |
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Differences Between Marine and Inland Construction:
Marine construction is a specialized field dealing with the building, maintenance, and repair of structures in freshwater and marine coastal areas. These structures include erosion control projects such as bulkheads, seawalls, breakwaters, revetments, groins, jetties, artificial beach nourishment, coastal bluff reshaping and vegetative stabilization, as well as navigation projects such as docks, cribs, boat ramps and boathouses, marina basins and harbor projects, and dredging. This type of construction requires special, sophisticated equipment, such as barges, tugs, pumps and clamshell cranes, not used for general inland construction projects. Reputable marine contractors have this type of equipment, know how to operate it, and have experience putting it to use in diverse situations. Marine contractors can complete a shoreline construction project more efficiently and with greater assurance of quality control than could most inland contractors working in a coastal setting.
Construction in and along coastal waters is different from building in an inland location. The engineering and construction principles for land-based structures are not directly transferable to coastal areas. The environment, physical forces, and often the soil types and morphology of coastal locations require specialized construction materials and techniques be used in marine construction compared with inland work. Knowledge of coastal processes such as waves, currents, and the transport of sediment particles is also important. It is possible that construction of erosion control structure in one location could help alleviate the problem at that specific site, while causing a new problem in another, nearby location. For example, an improperly designed or placed bulkhead could solve an erosion problem by holding soil back and protecting it from wave attack while at the same time aggravating erosion along property adjacent to the structure by reflecting wave energy onto that unprotected site. To be successful in designing and building a coastal project, a marine contractor needs training and experience in coastal processes and marine construction techniques.
Marine contractors also need skill and experience at selecting the right building materials for coastal projects. For wooden docks and bulkheads, pressure-treated wood with certain minimum standards, is a necessity. A contractor should understand what type of preservative is needed and where to obtain suitably treated timbers. The selection of stone for a rock revetment is different that the selection of stone for an inland retaining wall. For example, although sandstone might work well for an inland wall, in a coastal environment it might prove to be too lightweight to withstand wave energies and will probably round out and move more easily than a denser, more angular dolomite such as limestone. A marine contractor will know how to select the correct concrete or stone for a project.
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