Goose Creek Plant – Sea Transport

JMT provided environmental, engineering, and design services for the expansion of this existing factory to meet the requirements for the manufacturing and routine testing of submarine and land cables. This required several preparations to the Cooper River site to give safe and efficient access to the plant for large cable transport and installation vessels, as well as the construction of a plant marine terminal/quay to allow safe mooring of vessels and handling of the products and equipment during vessel loading.

JMT provided environmental permitting activities to support dredging over more than 10 acres of river bottom, including pursuing Clean Water Act Section 404 and 401 authorizations. Work components included preparation of the uplands adjacent to the quay as well as construction of the main quay in the Cooper River along with associated dredging. Additional evaluations included a biological assessment, an alternatives analysis, sediment characterization, a Tier 1 sediment analysis, an underwater noise evaluation, an analysis of project effects pursuant to 33 U.S.C. Section 408, and an Essential Fish Habitat Assessment. Section 408 coordination entailed establishing another salinity monitoring gauge in the Cooper River to demonstrate that an existing one would not be adversely affected by this project’s dredging. JMT also provided project management and engineering services required to ensure cable transport and installation vessels’ access to the plant, including the preparation for the necessary marine terminal facilities.

With support from JMT among others, Nexans proudly opened its Charleston site as the only high-voltage subsea cable plant in the U.S.