STEMM Report

Green Marina Project- STEMM Report
The intention of the green marina project is to plan and design a green marina for Atlantic Highlands, NJ. The marina should target the prevention of water pollution and erosion, and should also get rid of petroleum that has leaked into the water. As a structural engineer, my portion of the project covers from the waterline out. This includes the design the docks for commercial and recreational boats and coastal structures such as bulkheads, breakwaters, and groins.

Relation to Systems Engineering
The project as a whole relates to our systems engineering class because it not only presents us with a problem situation that requires brainstorming, research, and developmental work in order to come up with several viable solutions, but also incorporates three different types of engineering. The two main types of engineering related to my specific part of the project are environmental engineering and structural engineering. As an environmental engineer, I am attempting to create an environmentally friendly marina that will reduce pollution in the water, stop petroleum leaks into the water, and stop erosion in the area. As a structural engineer, I am attempting to build a properly functioning marina that not only has a logical layout and traffic pattern, but also holds the most amount of boats, and spaces them out properly.
My design is considered an innovation, because I am building a marina with the purpose of making it environmentally friendly. I am changing aspects that are harmful to the environment and adding components to the design that will help control common environmental issues in current marinas. The types of manufacturing needed for my marina design are mass production for items such as the oil absorbent booms and the floating breakwater, and custom manufacturing for items such as the pilings. Several manufacturing categories are involved in my design, including construction, engineering, environmental technologies, metalworking, plastics (for the floating breakwater), and textile manufacturing (cloth for the oil absorbent booms).

Science Concepts
In building a marina, some of the main science concepts involved are waves, tides, wave energy, and erosion. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels that are caused by a combination of gravitational forces from the sun and moon and the earth’s rotation. Surface waves often form from wind. The main factors that decide how large a surface wave will be are: wind speed, distance of open water the wind has blown over, width of area, time wind has blown, and water depth.
The bay that is right next to the site for my marina design in Atlantic Highlands is not extremely large, and therefore does not allow for very large waves. However, it does produce waves that are large enough that they could cause damage to a marina if no protection is offered.
An important part of a marina is the protection that is built to prevent oncoming waves from damaging the boats and the docks. However, these forms of protection can often be harmful to the environment. They increase erosion because they act as a barrier and deflect wave energy. The deflection of wave energy will cause the sand to wash away in front of the breakwater, and build up behind the breakwater, as shown in Figure 3 below.

Technology
One of the main green aspects of my design includes oil absorbent polypropylene booms that float in the water. They will absorb fuel oils, hydraulic oil, gasoline, diesel, motor oil, jet fuel and kerosene, and will repel water. They are white in color, and will turn gray when they need to be changed. The location of the booms has been chosen by what areas release or have the most oil. The gasoline dock will leak gas, and the ramp will have gasoline from vehicles putting boats into the water as well as runoff.

While marinas do need some sort of protection from the harsh waves in the bay to keep the boats as well as the docks safe, breakwaters (a popular solution for this) can be damaging to the environment because they cause erosion. My solution for the issue of protecting the marina from waves is by using a type of floating breakwaters. These prevent erosion, while still performing the same job as a stationary breakwater. The specific floating breakwater I intend on using is the Whisprwave Floating Breakwater pictured in Figure 6 below.

The Whisprwave was designed for erosion control, and protect marinas without causing damage. The plastic pieces are linked both above and below water, and absorb the impact of waves, taking away their energy, and making them much less harmful. Instead of reflecting wave energy as stationary breakwaters do, the whisprwave absorbs it, preventing erosion.

On each of the docks, especially the gasoline dock, there will be access to oil absorbent polymer pads that can be placed in the water in emergency situations. The pads work in a similar fashion as the oil absorbent booms do, by repelling water and absorbing any gas or oil, as demonstrated in Figure 7, pictured below. The main difference between the pads and the boom are that the booms are placed further away from the docks, and the pads can be placed wherever they are needed.

Math/Calculations
The oil absorbent booms that I am using are 20 feet in length and 8 inches in diameter. Each boom is able to absorb 24 galloons of oil. I am placing them next to the oil dock, as well as under the loading docks next to the ramp. Each loading dock will have one boom underneath, while the gas dock will have 4 booms located next to it. A total of 6 booms will be needed for the marina at a time.
The pilings for the marina will be replaced every 10 feet, and they are measured from the center of one piling to the center of the next piling. If the main docks are each 500 feet long, then there should be 100 pilings for the length of each dock, since the pilings are each 10 feet apart, and should go up both sides of the dock. At the tip of the T-shaped docks, 8 extra pilings are needed, making it a total of 108 pilings. At the tip of the L-shaped docks, 4 extra pilings are needed, making it a total of 104 pilings. The fishing pier all the way on the left side of the marina needs 14 extra pilings, making it a total of 114 pilings. The gas dock on the right side of the marina is 700 feet long, and would therefore need 140 pilings to cover the length, and an additional 20 pilings to cover the tip, creating a total of 160 pilings. For the small pier on the far right of the marina, 58 pilings are needed. For each of the loading docks for the ramp, 30 pilings are needed. There are 5 T-shaped docks, 3 L-shaped docks, 1 fishing pier, 1 gas dock, 2 loading docks for the ramp, and 1 dock allowing access to the mooring field. This gives a total of 1214 pilings are needed throughout the entire marina.

Conclusion:
The green marina project incorporates environmental engineering and structural engineering through the innovation of a structurally safe, functioning marina with environmental benefits included to make it green. Mass production and custom manufacturing are needed in order to produce the necessary items for a marina. The manufacturing categories are involved in my design, including construction, engineering, environmental technologies, metalworking, plastics, and textile manufacturing. My final design involves the use of a floating breakwater, polypropylene oil booms, and oil absorbent polymers to create a greener environment for my marina. For my project, the scientific concepts of wave energy, tides, waves, and erosion are important to have knowledge about. The main calculations that are necessary are calculating the amount of pilings needed, and the amount of oil the booms are able to hold.