The privately-owned Bayshore Apartments and Newport Marina are located in lower Newport Bay adjacent to iconic Pacific Coast Highway. At the beginning of this year, Bellingham Marine began the project to replace the entire marina, and within just three and a half months, the new marina construction was substantially complete.

The owners of this marina wanted to replace this aging marina as quickly as possible, increase the slip count where possible, and build a marina that would last well into the foreseeable future. This new state-of-the art concrete Unifloat marina includes a total of a total of 50 slips ranging from 22 to 62 feet long, with FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) thru-rods, rounded finger ends, and a composite decking overlay which provides a nautical look with the structural benefits of concrete Unifloat underneath.

BMI incorporated a couple unique features to maximize the available slip space in this marina. Due to the amount of space required for a full 80-foot ADA gangway, an alternative system was developed. The custom system of gangways was designed to adjust with the tide. Each of the two 40-foot gangways meet at a central platform to maintain a constant ADA-compliant slope. In addition to the gangway system, the unique herringbone configuration maximizes the vessel capacity of the marina while maintaining comfortable vessel operating access.

As the general contractor, BMI handed all aspects of the project including permitting, engineering, design work, demolition, pile driving, electrical, and plumbing. Southern California Edison installed a new transformer, and BMI’s in-house electrical team installed new equipment to support the new marina, the existing marina office, as well as expanded service for future landside electric vehicle chargers. The increased power requirements for the marina support 240v service to each slip, which will accommodate higher speed electric vessel charging in the future.

In conjunction with BMI’s work, the owner contracted with landside contractors who completed utility work and parking lot grading improvements to support the new marina. Not only will the new state-of-the-art marina support the current demand, but it will last for decades to come, serving gas-powered and electric vessels well into the future.