New marina opens in Chicago
Chicago’s Navy Pier has opened, following a large-scale redevelopment including a large transient marina protected by a 91m SF marina floating concrete wave-attenuating breakwater.
Randy Podolsky has spearheaded the development: “Ever since I began boating in 1983, I’ve felt Navy Pier was the ideal site for a marina; in 2015, I began floating the idea.”
Podolsky battled 10 years of red tape and legal and political hurdles, to make the new marina a reality.
He told MIN there is a boater’s building to follow. 30 boats arrived at the marina on 13 June and the marina has hosted its first rendezvous that featured 17 vessels last week.
Navy Pier marina can accommodate vessels up to 55m.
Marina designers and engineers Edgewater Resources installed nearly 2,400m of Structurmarine floating aluminum docks along Navy Pier’s north side. According to the Navy Pier Marina team while a large rock breakwater offshore offers some protection, the location is essentially a long, hard-sided channel. When waves and wakes enter the basin, an uncomfortable, confused chop can develop, so the engineers recommended an SF Marina breakwater and wave fence for more protection.
Marine contractor JF Brennan Company installed five 4mx18m SF400 Series breakwaters. The sections were manufactured at SF Marina’s Norfolk, Virginia, USA facility and transported via truck to Chicago.
The SF400 array is designed to absorb and distributes wave-induced stress loads. The system is anchored on 5cm stud link chains and large concrete dead-weight anchors.
Navy Pier Marina offers short-term and overnight dockage. The pet-friendly marina has around-the-clock security, power and water hookups, wi-fi and pump-out services, as well as on-site laundry, washrooms and showers.
Sweden-based SF Marina engineers and manufactures floating breakwaters and concrete dock pontoons, and related marine structures that are built to withstand extreme weather events.
