As BIW accelerates the DDG 51 Program shipbuilding rate, Pier 2 has become an essential location for execution of post-launch ship construction work. This pier, compared to Pier 4, has significantly less infrastructure to support this type of work. As an example, portable toilets are used as the primary bathroom for more than 600 mechanics working on a ship at that pier. To address this, BIW intends to demolish the existing Boiler Shop and replace it with what we are referring to as a Pier Support Center (~17,000 square feet footprint, four stories). This building will house mechanic space for trades heavily involved in waterborne construction, workshops, bathrooms, a centralized lunchroom, lockers and other provisions required to support the pier. In addition to this new building, a “Direct Pier Support” structure (~3,500 square feet footprint, two stories) will be constructed just adjacent to the pier, housing amenities needed to be more closely located to the ingress and egress points of the ship. Together, these two structures will set this pier up for an accelerated shipbuilding pace.
