A roundup of construction news from around Maine includes Cianbro’s efforts to move a major piece of equipment from Brewer, by sea, to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
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Maine’s largest construction company, Cianbro Corp., may be best known for its work on land.
But recently it was tasked with transporting a temporary lifting device from Brewer to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The steel structure is 111 feet wide with a lifting capacity of 4,000 metric tons — so this obviously wasn’t a job to be taken lightly, no pun intended.
The lifting device was transported from Cianbro’s modular manufacturing facility in Brewer. The barge made the journey down the Penobscot River to the Atlantic, then along the Maine coast to the mouth of the Piscataqua River.
The device is temporarily stationed at Henderson’s Point on the west side of Seavey Island.
The shipyard will use the lifting device to support its work at Dry Dock No. 1, which dates to World War II and is undergoing a seven-year renovation process. Cianbro is also a partner in that work, along with 381 Constructors, the Industrial Co. of Kiewit Corp. and the Middlesex Corp. Assembly of the lifting device is expected to wind up in early May.
The device will be used to lift 27 concrete “monoliths” — each weighing 4,000 tons. The concrete structures are being built at Cianbro’s Brewer facility.
Once the modernization of Dry Dock No. 1 is completed, the shipyard will be able to accommodate three Los Angeles- or Virginia-class submarines for repair, maintenance and modernization. The shipyard is one of four owned by the U.S. Navy, which has more than $6 billion in construction upgrades planned under the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program.
A roundup of construction news from around Maine
- Consigli Construction installed the last structural section of steel going into the Crewe Center for the Arts on the University of Southern Maine campus. A “topping off” ceremony was held March 13. The $63 million center is expected to open in 2025.
- Optimum Construction, of South Portland, is managing the fit-out of Mesa Grande Taqueria at 100 Fore St. in Portland.
- Hebert Construction, of Lewiston, will take on a hometown job, fitting out space in Bates Mill No. 3 for the Lewiston Police Department, Mayor Carl Sheline announced.
- Wright-Ryan Construction managed construction of an 84-unit, 17,150-square-foot employee housing facility in Bar Harbor for Witham Family Hotels. Design was led by Geoff Fraser of Bar Harbor-based Fraser Associates Architects.
- DEW Construction Corp., which is based in Williston, Vt., will open a Maine office in 3,500 square feet of leased space at 2 Market St. in Portland.
Laurie Schreiber contributed to this report.