Naval Base Kitsap Dry Dock Emergency Seismic Retrofits: Innovative Design and Fully Integrated Design Delivers Flawlessly and Fast

In January 2023, the US Navy requested Kiewit-Alberici Joint Venture (KAJV) to undertake an emergency design and construction for the seismic retrofit of multiple dry docks on the Kitsap Peninsula, Washington Naval Base. The KAJV Team quickly developed a design concept consisting of installing ground anchors through the dry dock walls into very dense glacial soils. Structural design used first principles and rational assumptions design methods. Structural detailing accommodated construction preferred methods and available materials. The design addressed earth pressures on the walls (including seismic loading), liquefaction, anchor testing, and corrosion of ground anchor elements. After the design was completed, a time-history soil-structure interaction analysis was completed to assess the performance of the retrofitted condition for the dry docks. Within 4 months, 695 ground anchors were installed and now provide seismic resilience to three critical dry docks.