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NOAA News Updates
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Road & Driveway, Newport, OR, won the contract to load and transport 38,000 cubic yards of sand from the mitigation pile next to the NOAA facility. Work started on Monday, February 6. It is expected to take sixteen, nine-hours days, Monday - Friday, to move 2,330 loads of sand. Trucks will be entering and exiting from the north roadway in the launch ramp parking lot every 18-20 minutes. The site will be groomed to an even and fair grade after the sand is removed. The sand will be used as fill material at the Newport airport. |
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The NOAA ship Oscar Dyson left Newport on Saturday, January 28, for the season. She is on her way to Alaska. (Photo courtesy of the NOAA website.) |
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Geotechnical Resources, Inc. (GRI), KPFF Consulting Engineers, and the Port of Newport were presented with the Grand Award and the People's Choice Award for the NOAA MOC-P project at the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon) Engineering Excellence 2012 Awards Dinner on January 11, 2012, in Portland. Engineering Excellence is an annual design competition that recognizes engineering achievements which demonstrate the highest degree of merit and ingenuity. |
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All NOAA MOC-P homeport vessels are currently in Newport for the winter. [Click for more info] |
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The NOAA Research Vessel Bell M. Shimada was in port in early August and R/V Pacific Storm, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, USCG Buoy Tender Fir, and the ACOE Dredge Yaquina also used the NOAA pier for fueling and crew change. Bell M. Shimada returned on September 4 and is back in her new home port until spring. She is the first of four NOAA ships expected to spend the winter in Newport. |
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The NOAA MOC-P Dedication and Open House event on August 20-21, 2011 was a wonderful community event and the weather couldn't have been better. Speakers included Newport Mayor Mark McConnell, Port Commission President JoAnn Barton and General Manager Don Mann, Senator Ron Wyden, Governor John Kitzhaber, Congressman Kurt Schrader, Rear Admirals Jonathan Bailey and Michael Devany, and Dr. Jane Lubchenco. Music was provided by Clean Slate. The crowd on Saturday and Sunday was estimated at approximately 3,500. Local sponsors and donors were generous and the event was an example of Newport hospitality at its finest. |
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January 2010 - Present |
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The Port of Newport received the Certificate of Occupancy and the fully executed Certificate of Substantial Completion for the remaining berths 1,2, and 3 of the new NOAA pier on June 22, 2011, thus completing the entire MOC-P project nine days ahead of schedule. |
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The NOAA fisheries service vessel Bell M. Shimada arrived at her new homeport in Newport, Oregon on Friday, June 17, 2011, at 3:00 p.m. She is the first of the NOAA fleet to tie up at the new Marine Operations Center-Pacific pier. |
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The Port of Newport will harvest and replant eelgrass on the south side of Yaquina Bay adjacent to the new NOAA MOC-P facility. The project is part of the Port's permit obligation for mitigation. If you would like to assist, please show up at the turnaround at thenorth end of the South Beach Marina and RV Park, near the fuel dock area. There will be someone there to greet you and provide instructions. The harvest and replanting will take place at low tide on Wednesday, June 15, 6:30 a.m.; Thursday, June 16, 7:00 a.m.; and Friday, June 17, 7:30 a.m. Each session will last 3-4 hours. Dress as you would for clamming. Hip boots are recommended. Call Don Mann at 541-265-7758 for more information. |
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This is an aerial view of the NOAA MOC-P site as of May 4, 2011. |
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The NOAA MOC-P administration office is complete as of May 2011, and NOAA is in the process of moving in. |
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The NOAA museum room will be a main feature of the new administration building. |
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The NOAA warehouse is complete, as of May 2011, and NOAA is moving in supplies and equipment. |
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Port of Newport General Manager Don Mann and Commission Chair Ginny Goblirsch handed over the keys to the Marine Operations Center-Pacific Homeport to Molly Kunze, NOAA Real Property Contracting Officer, on Friday, April 29, 2011. |
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On Friday, April 29, 2011, the NOAA MOC-P Homeport project will be signed off by NOAA. The project was actually completed on April 26, 2011, five days ahead of schedule. Click below to read more. |
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NOAA personnel conducted a walk-through of the new Marine Operations Center-Pacific (MOC-P) Homeport facility in Newport on April 7, 2011. Left to right: Don Mann, GM, Port of Newport; Joshua Dodson, Day CPM, Principal; CAPT Brian Taggart, NOAA, Senior Advisor MOC-P Relocation; Molly Kunze, NOAA, Real Property Contracting Officer; Brad Seifert, Public Properties LLC, Senior Director; John Vickers, NOAA, MOC-P Facility Manager; Joe Duran, NOAA, Regional Safety Officer; Chris Walkup, gLAs Architects, Design Architect & Project Manager; Robert Gries, NOAA, Senior Project Manager; Tom Martin, NOAA, Mechanical Engineer. Not pictured: CAPT Michele Bullock, NOAA, MOC-P Relocation Manager; LTjg Andrew Colegrove, NOAA, MOC-P Onsite Project Manager. |
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The sand pile at the site of NOAA's new homeport is shrinking. about 11,000 cubic yards have been carried away by contractors, agencies, and private citizens. The sand was excavated from the site's upland property and is free to anyone who wants to make arrangements to haul it away. Call the Port office at 541-265-7758 for more information. |
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The NOAA Administration Building is near completion, as of April 7, 2011. |
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The Port Commission was briefed on the progress of the NOAA Homeport Project at the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Click below to read more. |
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The contractor has driven all of the pier piles for the dock and installed all the concrete beam spans beetween the pile caps, and is pouring the final exposed concrete topping slab of the pier. |
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The Port of Newport Board of Commissioners was briefed on the progress of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific Homeport Project at the monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Click here to read the update. |
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The Port Commission was briefed on the progress of the NOAA MOC-P Homeport Project at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. Click here for news update. |
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The first piles at the NOAA MOC-P Homeport site were driven on November 16, 2010. There is also work going on at the mitigation site, the dolphins and fish ladder are being removed, the crab dock piles are gone, and the rip rap frontage is being pulled back. |
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Senator Ron Wyden met on November 5, 2010 at the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific site with Port of Newport Commissioners, Port staff, the Governor's staff, and members of the construction and project management teams. Click on the link to read more. |
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The permit for the in-water work at the NOAA MOC-P site was received on November 10, 2010, and equipment was moved into place on November 11, 2010 to begin driving sheet piles. |
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Piling for the NOAA MOC-P Homeport Project is being stock piled at the terminal for use during the in-water phase of the project. |
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Senior NOAA officers visited the new Homeport facility in Newport on November 2, 2010. The group is in front of the new administration building. The office and warehouse are scheduled for completion in May of 2011. |
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Senior NOAA officials visited the NOAA MOC-P Homeport site on November 2, 2010. |
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Concrete pile caps for the NOAA piers are being cast at the terminal and stockpiled for installation. |
The Port Commission was briefed on the progress of the NOAA Project at the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. Click on the link to read more. |
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NOAA officials visited from Seattle, WA on September 9, 2010 to inspect the progress of their new facility. The group included Captains Guy Noll and Michele Bullock. They also toured the Oregon Coast Community College campus in Newport. |
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The Port had a great turnout of volunteers for the eelgrass harvest August 9-11, 2010. Twenty-two young adults and students participated, along with Port staff and commissioners. The eelgrass was removed from an area that will be dredged for the NOAA MOC-P project. The Oregon Coast Aquarium will nurture the plants until they can be replanted at the mitigation site in the spring. |
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Work continues on the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific administration office and warehouse at the NOAA site in South Beach. |
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The new NOAA MOC-P warehouse and administration office at the NOAA Homeport site in Newport. The photo was taken on August 4, 2010. The contractor is Andersen-WCC, a Joint Venture. The project is being managed by Day CPM. |
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The walls for the new NOAA administration office were raised on the project site in South Beach on August 4th and 5th, 2010. |
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The walls for the new NOAA warehouse were tilted up on August 3, 2010 at the project site in South Beach. |
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The walls for the NOAA MOC-P Homeport warehouse and administration office are poured and laid out, prior to being tilted up at the South Beach construction site. |
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Port Commission Briefed on the NOAA Project Progress |
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Slabs have been poured for the buildings and underground utilities installed, and a yellow vapor shield is in place over the concrete. |
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Go to the following websites to access the Port of Newport's Joint Permit Application for public review and comment. |
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Click on the link for a PowerPoint presentation on the project. |
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The NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada made a port call in her new homeport of Newport, Oregon on June 6, 2010. She came in under a steady drizzle but to a warm welcome. She spent three days in Newport. The Bell M. Shimada is one of the most technologically-advanced fisheries vessels in the world. She was launched in 2008 and added to the NOAA fleet in February of 2010. Her primary mission is to protect, restore, and manage living marine resources through ecosystem-based management in a changing climate. FSV Bell M. Shimada is 208.6 feet long. Her range is 12,000 nm at 12 knots/endurance 40 days. She is named for Bell Masayuki Shimada, who served with the Bureau of Fisheries and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, and was known for his contributions to the study of tropical Pacific tuna stocks, which were important to the development of West Coast commercial fisheries following World War II. Bell M. Shimada's son, Allen, is a fisheries scientist with NOAA's Fisheries Service. |
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The NOAA ship Miller Freeman made a port call in Newport on June 5, 2010. She arrived at 0700 and was greeted by an enthusiastic group on the public fishing pier, waving flags to welcome her to her new homeport. The ship spent about four hours in port for crew change. The Miller Freeman is a 215-foot fisheries and oceanographic research vessel and is one of the largest research trawlers in the United States. With a 12,587 mile/31 day endurance, she is capable of operating in any waters of the world. Her primary mission is to provide a working platform for the study of the ocean's living resources. The ship was launched in 1967. She is named for Miller Freeman (1875-1955), a publisher who was actively involved in the international management of fish harvests. |
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The community welcomes NOAA. |
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The Port of Newport held a community celebration on Sunday, June 6, 2010, to celebrate Newport's designation as the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific's new homeport. The event, which was planned, coordinated, and delivered by an army of volunteers, would not be drowned out by relentless rain and wind. There was live music, activities for kids, barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs, and two long tables filled with donated food. The unofficial headcount for the celebration was 1,200. Co-hosts for the event were: the Port of Newport, OSU-Hatfield Marine Science, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Rotary Club of Newport, City of Newport, Lincoln County, JC Market, and countless volunteers and donors. |
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The Port of Newport celebrated a long anticipated groundbreaking for the new NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific on Thursday, June 3, 2010. The ceremony was held at the new NOAA MOC-P site in South Beach, with the sound of heavy equipment working in the background. Oregon's senators, congressmen, state legislators and governor were there, along with community leaders and 400+ of their constituents. The groundbreaking came just one day after NOAA announced its final determination, in a Public Notice Final Determination dated June 2, 2010 (see below), that there is no practicable alternative to relocating its Marine Operations Center-Pacific to the Port of Newport, Oregon. Co-hosts for the groundbreaking were: the Port of Newport, OSU-Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Rotary Club of Newport, City of Newport, Lincoln County, JC Market, and many local volunteers and donors. |
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NOAA has conducted an analysis of whether there was a practicable alternative to the Port of Newport, Oregon for NOAA's Marine Operations Center-Pacfic (MOC-P) and, after that analysis and a 30-day comment period, has determined that there was no practicable alternative to the Port of Newport lease award. Click on the link for NOAA's Final Determination report dated June 2, 2010. |
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The Port Commission received an update on bond funding and construction progress for the NOAA Homeport Project. Click on the link for more details. |
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Aerial view of work at the NOAA MOC-P site during the week of February 8-12, 2010. |
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The last of Yaquina Bay Fruit Processors' buildings is demolished at the NOAA site. YBFP has been relocated to make room for the NOAA complex. |
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Excavation work is complete at the NOAA MOC-P site. Of the concrete, steel, and asphalt that was removed, 99% (7,266 tons or 14 million pounds) was recycled. |
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(L to R) Port of Newport General Manager Don Mann; Joshua Dodson, Project Manager-Day CPM; Commission President Ginny Goblirsch; and Port of Newport Project Manager Pete Dale on the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific Homeport site on January 19, 2010. Mobilization began at the site on January 18, 2010. |
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The first construction contracts for the NOAA MOC-P Homeport Project have been awarded to Newport-based contractors Road & Driveway Company and Western States Electrical Construction. [Click for more info] |
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Selection panel chooses Construction Manager/General Contractor [Click for more info] |
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Ground is broken at the NOAA MOC-P site in South Beach, following the Kick-Off meeting in August, 2009. |
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Port of Newport General Manager Don Mann; Port Commissioner JoAnn Barton; Capt. Michele Bullock, NOAA MOC-P; Governor Ted Kulongoski; Joshua Dodson, Day CPM; David Ulbricht, Wedbush Morgan Securities. |
Government Contract Assistance Program [Click for more info] |
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NOAA MOC-P employment opportunities can be found at www.usajobs.gov. |
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The NOAA Families Welcome Weekend, previously scheduled for October 10-12, 2009, has been postponed until spring when more people will be able to attend. The weekend may coincide with groundbreaking at the NOAA MOC-P site. |