Substructure Demonstrates Versatility of Hydrographic Survey Vessel Orion at EnergyOcean 2009
PORTSMOUTH, NH, June 20, 2009 – Substructure a global marine services company providing high-resolution marine assessment, marine design and fabrication, commercial diving, and other underwater services – demonstrated the nearshore and coastal capabilities of its hydrographic survey vessel, Orion, during the EnergyOcean 2009 conference and exhibition, held in Rockport, Maine, June 16-18, 2009.
Substructure demonstrated the versatility of Orion with the integration of Teledyne RD Instruments Workhorse Sentinel 1200 acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to acquire underway, high-resolution, water-column current data. Water-column current data are critical information for potential tidal current energy projects and can also be an important factor when siting marine engineering structures.
The downward-looking Teledyne ADCP was mounted onto a faired pole and mounting plate designed and fabricated by Substructure engineers. Substructure’s standard suite of multibeam equipment (e.g., Reson 8125 multibeam echosounder, Applanix POS MV motion reference unit, and HYPACK/HYSWEEP data acquisition and processing software) also were used to acquire and process data during the demonstrations.
“The design of Orion and the ADCP mounting system allowed faster survey speeds with no degradation of the data,” observed Ron Hippe of Teledyne RD Instruments. “The mounting system had none of the sympathetic vibrations that I normally see. I believe this is due to the attention to detail when designing the mount. This attention to detail is evident throughout the boat. It shows Orion was designed with versatility in mind, but also with performance as the most important factor.”
Survey vessel Orion, which was custom-designed by Substructure’s engineers and technicians, features hull-mounted multibeam sonar and state-of-the-art electronics for bathymetric data accuracy and repeatability that meets or exceeds International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Special Order standards. The exceptional level of accuracy provided by Orion can be critical for a variety of applications, including dredging volume computations, seafloor change evaluations, site characterization surveys, and engineering structural assessments.
EnergyOcean 2009, the sixth annual conference and exhibition, attracted technologists, financiers, and policymakers from around the world interested in the opportunities, challenges, and solutions in ocean renewable energy development.
Substructure survey vessel Orion on the breakwater dock in Rockland, Maine, during the initial installation of the Teledyne RD Instruments Workhorse Sentinel 1200 acoustic Doppler current profiler.
Trailerable survey vessel Orion at Substructure’s Portsmouth, New Hampshire, facility during installation of a Substructure-designed/built faired pole and mounting plate for the Teledyne RD Instruments Workhorse Sentinel 1200 acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP).
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