DVIDS – News – CFAY cuts the ribbon on the new pier

The dedication ceremony for Pier 5 aboard Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka concluded a multi-year project, bringing the pier into the 21st century. Integrating new technologies with legacy systems and retaining the historic element are key to preserving Yokosuka’s history. The project faced various challenges and setbacks, but successfully passed all milestones with its completion before the November 18, 2022 deadline.

Since World War II, Pier 5 has provided basic services to ships entering CFAY. With recent upgrades, it has become an even more effective asset to the port with its size and expanded functionality.

“This new pier, by design, is quite sturdy,” said CDR Tyler Scharar, CFAY Public Works Officer. “It has 4160 volt shore power, which is what the Zumwalt-class destroyer uses. So it’s a great upgrade. The only 4160 we have right now is on Pier 12, which is for carriers, and this might work for other assets but this is for carriers so now we have a little boy jetty with 4160 volts which all new ship classes will have it also has 480 volts which is the power supply existing dock.

Other improvements to the jetty include the installation of a 140-truck mobile crane, a 20-tonne forklift and emergency vehicles. It also provides essential utilities such as potable water, compressed air, utility trenches, grounding system and supporting infrastructure.

“Having this additional port cargo capacity will help sustain the fleet significantly,” said CFAY Port Operations Officer Lt. Randall Cribb. “We can get the ships in, get them what they need, and put them back on the job.”

The size of the jetty has also grown to a single deck fixed jetty of 205m x 35m. The extra space makes the workplace safer and more efficient, especially during maintenance.

“When ships moor next to each other, it can pose a risk,” said Chief Quartermaster Derek Goehmann, pilot of the CFAY port. “So having another mooring option will be an upgrade, especially as we have been working without the pier for a year and a half. Walking near the harbor you will see that the ships are doubled. So the new jetty affects us. We are here to support the ships, and if they can’t get to the side of the ship, it slows down production.

The contract was awarded in March 2020, with a completion date of November 18, 2022. Along the way, the project encountered challenges but ultimately was completed on schedule.

“Many surprises can occur between the start of design and the end of construction, and we encountered some of them,” Scharar said. “There were unforeseen things while we were digging. This base dates back to 1870, and it was a Japanese industrial shipyard. So every time you dig, you find things. And COVID-19 also played a role. So we had It’s impressive that the project stayed on track, and we’re very proud to deliver to the fleet on the date promised.

In addition to the upgrade itself and meeting deadlines, this was an opportunity for the team to catch up on the build requirements.

“The Navy has a vested interest in making sure we know how to do large-scale, waterside construction in the Pacific,” Scharar said. “In most operations plans for the Pacific, both allow construction forces, which are enlisted Seabee battalions, as well as NAVFACs on many small islands and also main bases like this, and we let’s build things to land planes and shoot in ships and refit ships and rearm ships and go Army Corps of Engineers build all military contracts in this area Navy got DOD clearance to a waiver to build this military construction project.

With the project given the green light, the contract was awarded to a local Japanese company and was expected to meet US and Japanese standards and give the pier a 75-year lifespan.

“The contract was a learning experience,” said LCDR Victor Wong, director of the Facilities Engineering and Acquisitions Division at Naval Facilities Engineering Command. “Contracting is a new culture and new territory. To my knowledge, the Japanese company had no prior experience working for the US government, especially at this scale of work. So it was a learning curve for the contractor and for us. In the end, it was a good experience in terms of what they needed to understand our requirements and standards. At the same time, we adapted to integrate the JIS (Japan Industrial Standard So even with these differences, we were able to compare the requirements and ensure that a useful and good product, in terms of quality, was still delivered.”

International camaraderie has formed around a common goal through interactions between the U.S. Navy and the Japanese contractor. This exchange reflects the mission and vision here aboard Yokosuka to support the U.S.-Japan alliance and to be “an installation community that attracts the best sailors and civilian employees to serve in Japan with their families.”

“We do a lot of work with Japanese contractors, but when you do a product of this scale, the company that gets that job usually has high resources and skills,” Scharar said. “It’s amazing what they can do and what they can solve when you run into these problems and the scale of the task. In numbers alone, it’s quite exceptional. The ability of American contractors and Japanese people to develop solutions and overcome them grows with the capacity of these partner companies. They were an excellent entrepreneur, and we are very proud of their work, and I hope it will provide opportunities to work together in the future .
The dedication and time invested throughout the project outweighs the difficulties, especially when reflecting on all that has been accomplished physically and relationally.

“It’s unprecedented. I’m very proud to be part of this program and this project,” Wong said. “It’s very nice to see the final product when a ship is moored next to it.”

“Any time you work on a project that has some sort of remarkable physical feature,” Scharar said, “that people can recognize from an aerial photo or look at it every time you visit that base, you’ll remember ‘I built this.'”

The opening of Pier 5 is a commemorative occasion and a proud achievement in waterfront construction and international collaboration.

For more than 75 years, CFAY has provided, maintained and operated base facilities and services in support of forward deployed naval forces of the U.S. 7th Fleet, tenant commands and thousands of military and civilian and of their families.