South San Francisco Ferry Terminal Opens

Liftech engineers participated in the opening ceremony for the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) South San Francisco Ferry Terminal at Oyster Point. The new San Francisco Bay Ferry services will operate between South San Francisco, Alameda, and Oakland.

Liftech, as a consultant for Manson Construction Company, designed the terminal’s gangway, float, and dolphins.

The Manson-Liftech team began work on the project in the summer of 2009. Construction and installation was completed in early 2012.

Some interesting aspects of the design are:

The gangway-pier connection is designed to accommodate large movement between the pier and float including 15 feet of vertical movement due to water levels, and 5 feet of lateral movement and 10 degrees of rotation about the longitudinal axis for the design earthquake. The gangway supports at the pier incorporate a large vertical pin with a spherical bearing allowing rotations about two axes, and low-friction bearings to support the vertical reactions. The support at the float is a double articulated, wheel-on-rail system.
The float fender supports are designed with steel tubes instead of the traditional open W sections. The tubular elements provide increased strength, improved corrosion resistance, and are easier to construct.
The adjustable ramps on the gangway are raised and lowered using hydraulic pistons. Rollers are preloaded to press against alignment posts so there is no banging as the float rolls back and forth. Maintenance-free, fiber-reinforced resin bearings with embedded lubricants are used between the cylinder-pinned connections.

We are proud to have participated in this new and improved addition to the Bay Area’s transportation system.