Navy completes $47M electric infrastructure upgrade at PSNS dry dock

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the work was completed in November.

BREMERTON — The Navy has completed a $47 million modernization project to upgrade the electric infrastructure in Dry Dock 4 and Pier 3 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in November as part of its Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) to support the fleet for future decades, according to the Navy.

The over three years of construction included building four new substations at each corner of Dry Dock 4, installing a new duct bank on both the east and west side of the dry dock, upgrading the dry dock's mechanical systems and electrical gear, as well as the demolish and repour of the existing walls, stairs and floors, to upgrade them with more room, according to contractor Nova Group Inc.'s website introducing the modernization project.

As for Pier 3, two substations were upgraded with new foundations, fencing, and gear, and existing industrial power equipment was upgraded. "Additionally, new structural hangers and an under-pier duct bank were installed under the pier," according to Nova Group.

In June 2020, Nova Group was awarded a contract to modernize Dry Dock 4 and Pier 3 at the shipyard, according to the Department of Defense. The site work of this project started in August 2020, the contractor's newsletter this summer said.

To mark the completion of the project, PSNS & IMF held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 20, where team members from the shipyard, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Northwest, and Nova Group attended to event, according to a press release issued by the shipyard on Tuesday.

Upgrade infrastructure from 1940s to 21st century

Capt. JD Crinklaw, the commander of PSNS & IMF, highlighted the importance of this modernization at the ceremony, according to the Navy.

“What you see beside me here is not just a replacement of equipment, but a reimagining of our future,” said Crinklaw, who thanked the project team and contractors at the event. "Your project took infrastructure from the 1940s and brought it into the 21st century.”

According to the Navy, Dry Dock 4 was constructed in 1938 and was first designed to support non-nuclear surface ship construction and repair. The 85-year-old facility has most recently been used to support mid-life refueling of Ohio-class submarines and also to defuel the submarines being retired and recycled, the Navy said.

More: Dry Dock 4 welcomes USS Pennsylvania after seismic upgrades at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

This upgrade from 2020 to 2023 ensures that the shipyard can "continue providing timely execution of the nuclear Fleet maintenance and inactivation and reactor compartment disposal missions scheduled for the next 20 years, in addition to supporting the escalated loading of Seawolf-class submarines," according to the Navy.

As part of the Navy's SIOP project to upgrade the country's four naval shipyards, PSNS & IMF's Production Engineering and Facilities team worked with NAVFAC Northwest and government contractors to design, plan and execute the project to ensure the shipyard has the infrastructure to support the Navy’s needs for decades to come, the Navy said in the press release.

Over 114,000 man-hours were spent to accomplish this project, according to the Navy.

What is SIOP?

The Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) is the Navy's once-in-a-century program that will spend at least $21 billion to optimize its four aging naval shipyards in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Puget Sound, and Pearl Harbor in 20 years.

The total cost of the project may be way more than $21 billion, a number the Navy estimated for SIOP in 2018. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's report in June, the Navy hasn't developed a full cost and schedule estimate for the SIOP program and said it won't be able to do so until fiscal year 2025. In response to the GAO office's report and recommendation, the Navy said its program office will update the Cost Sensitivity and Risk Analysis throughout the project design phase and will codify and fully implement scheduling best practices for key SIOP projects.

In PSNS & IMF, the Navy plans to build a new multi-mission dry dock that can dock the country's newest Ford-class aircraft carriers and its future Columbia-class submarines, and will upgrade the Dry Dock 6, which is the only dry dock on the West Coast that can accommodate nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, as part of SIOP.

It is unknown how much it will cost to build the new dry dock, but the Navy has awarded a contract worth over $49 million for the architecture-engineer design services of the dry dock to WSM Pacific SIOP JV, a Hawaii-based company, in March. Adding an initial $8 million contract that was issued to the company in 2022 for architect-engineer initial services, the total cost to design the facility has reached $57 million, the Kitsap Sun previously reported.

The design process may completed in fiscal year 2025, and the new dry dock construction could take about 8 years, roughly slated from 2026 to 2032, according to the commanding officer of NAVFAC Northwest Capt. Brent Paul's presentation in Bremerton in August.

Also a part of the Navy's preparation for SIOP, NAVFAC Northwest issued a Request for Interest (RFI) in October to seek information about properties that it could possibly lease near Naval Base Kitsap to support military operations. The RFI shows that the Navy's potential need for leases are up to ten years.

Reporter Peiyu Lin covers the military and South Kitsap for the Kitsap Sun. She can be reached at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @peiyulintw.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: PSNS's Dry Dock 4, Pier 3 upgraded as part of Navy's SIOP program