Navigation Safety Multibeam Survey for Tall Ships Festival in Portsmouth, NH
At the request of the New Hampshire State Port Authority (NHSPA) and the Portsmouth Pilots, in May 2010 Substructure donated its expertise and its state-of-the-art survey vessel Orion to conduct a high-resolution multibeam bathymetric survey in the area alongside the Portsmouth Commercial Fish Pier and out into the mainstream of the Piscataqua River. The survey was undertaken to assess potential navigation safety issues in preparation for the 2010 New Hampshire Tall Ships Festival, held over Memorial Day weekend.
The year 2010 marked first year for the event to be based at the Fish Pier, and there were strong concerns by the organizers about under-keel clearances in this particular area. Substructure conducted the survey to the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO) highest standard, the special order survey.
Portsmouth pilot P.J. Johnson said, “The data and graphics provided by Substructure were invaluable for allowing us to preplan the transit for the Tall Ships into the Portsmouth Commercial Fish Pier area and for determining a safe mooring plan for these vessels once alongside the berth. We were very fortunate to have such a detailed data set from Substructure, which allowed us to take advantage of the limited areas of deep water that were available for the transit and mooring.”
In conjunction with the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (UNH CCOM), Substructure also prepared educational material on hydrographic surveying for display during the weekend-long festival.
