Project Overview

As leaders across the world seek clean energy solutions, the adoption of wind turbine generation continues to grow in the United States. From 2014 to 2023, the amount of electricity produced from wind more than doubled, representing an increase of 243,580 GWh over the period. This amount of energy is enough to power approximately 23 million U.S. homes for an entire year. In New Jersey, officials have set an ambitious goal as part of the state’s Energy Master Plan to achieve 100% carbon-neutral electricity generation by 2050. To help meet this goal, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) invested in the construction of the New Jersey Wind Port (NJWP)—a purpose-built offshore wind marshaling port located in Lower Alloways Creek along the Delaware River. The project, which will facilitate the installation of wind turbines along the Eastern Seaboard, was brought to life through precast concrete and the combined efforts of Precast Systems Inc., engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol, and NJEDA.

Breezing Through Construction

Constructing wind turbines at NJWP will involve receiving components from various international and domestic manufacturers, assembling tower sections and components on-site, and loading and positioning turbines onto installation vessels for final deployment. Due to the size and weight of turbine components, construction of NJWP required expansive space and extreme loading capacities. The only viable solution was precast concrete. Through the installation of more than 1700 precast, prestressed concrete piles, 315 precast, prestressed concrete pile caps, and 840 precast concrete slabs, the port can withstand 6200 lb/ft² of live load, with the inland area capable of supporting up to 4800 lb/ft² of short-term foundation loads for storage and staging.

“The load demands for the offshore wind industry proved to be a challenge that precast concrete was positioned to overcome, as the piles and pile caps could be prestressed, the quality of the product could be better assured, and the rapid construction schedule could be met,” says Fernando González Chana, senior project manager for Moffatt & Nichol.

Beyond the load capacity required for the effort, a primary driver for the use of precast concrete was the project’s rapid construction schedule, tight timelines, and limited footprint. With the piles, pile caps, and slabs produced off-site, components could be transported to NJWP and immediately installed, maximizing the limited laydown area that was available. Additionally, by selecting precast concrete instead of cast-in-place concrete, crews eliminated the need for complex formwork on-site, making the labor safer, faster, and more efficient. With the volume of concrete required for the job, cast-in-place concrete would also have required numerous concrete trucks, increasing the overall hazards on what was already a busy site.

According to Nicky Benedict, civil associate for Moffatt & Nichol, leveraging precast concrete also aided the project team in overcoming numerous project challenges related to the environment where NJWP was built. Specifically, the site is located on artificial islands where the soil is a combination of silty, loose sand and soft clays with poor bearing capacity. This required piles with significant lengths—each measured approximately 100 ft. The piles had to be long, but also capable of withstanding the corrosive environment of the Delaware River as well as the site’s high marine growth activity. Precast concrete accomplished all this and more, including the biggest design challenge: handling the loads that would be imposed by the site’s wind turbine activity.

“Sixty-two hundred psf is an unusually high loading capacity for a conventional cargo port,” Benedict says. “The pile caps based on the initial design were cast-in-place, large in size, and had connection conflicts. By using precast, prestressed concrete pile caps, reduction in density of the cap reinforcing was possible, allowing the connections between pile caps to stay reasonable while still meeting the design loading requirement.”

Mason Nichols is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based writer and editor who has covered the precast concrete industry since 2013.

Owner: New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Trenton, N.J.

PCI-Certified Precast Concrete Producer: Precast Systems Inc., Allentown, N.J.

Engineer of Record: Moffatt & Nichol, Baltimore, Md.

Contractor: Ferreira and Pierson, JV, Branchburg, N.J.

PCI Associate Suppliers: Helser Industries (Tualatin, Ore.), Headed Reinforcement Corp (Fountain Valley, Calif.), ALP Supply (Fairlesshills, Pa.)

Project Cost: $300 million ($110 million for the precast concrete)

Project Size: 162,865 ft²

Key Project Attributes

• The New Jersey Wind Port (NJWP) is the first greenfield port in the United States designed, built, and operated exclusively to support offshore wind projects.
• On-site at NJWP, wind turbines will be assembled before being loaded and positioned onto installation vessels for final deployment.
• Construction of NJWP is an integral part of achieving New Jersey’s goal of achieving 100% carbon-neutral electricity generation by 2050.

Project/Precast Scope

• Nearly 3000 precast concrete products made NJWP possible: 1748 piles, 315 pile caps, and 840 slabs.
• Use of precast concrete products allowed the NJWP project to meet its aggressive schedule and handle the live loads that will be present at the port.
• Precast concrete’s resilient attributes help ensure the state will benefit from offshore wind generation for years to come—even in the corrosive environment of the Delaware River.