Alabama Shipyard wins $11.5 million dredge Wheeler drydocking contract

Photo: USACE

Alabama Shipyard, Mobile, Ala., has been awarded an $11,466,912 firm-fixed-price contract to dry dock and repair the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers trailing suction hopper dredge Wheeler.

Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of December 6, 2024. The New Orleans Engineer District is the contracting activity.

Features of Alabama Shipyard’s 355-acre facility include 8,000 linear feet of available pier space and one of the largest docks in the U.S., enabling it to service a wide range of vessels in operation today.

With a length of over 408 feet and a 8,256 cubic yards maximum load capacity, the Wheeler is the largest hopper dredge in the USACE fleet and, on a good operating day, can remove 100,000 cubic yards of material, or about 7,000 dumptruck loads, from a project site.

Built by Avondale Shipyards and in service since 1982, the Wheeler was repowered in 2013 when its original Cooper Bessemer main propulsion and dredge generator engines were replaced with Caterpillar C280 diesel engines.