Maid of the Mist storage facility wins engineering award

3/30/15

On Saturday, March 28, over 700 consulting engineers and clients attended the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York’s (ACEC New York) 48th annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala at the Waldorf Astoria. Awards were presented to 100 ACEC New York member projects, including the Maid of the Mist’s dry dock and maintenance facility, designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, which received a Platinum award in the Special Projects category.
 
Construction of the facility began in 2012 and was completed in 2014.  It is located in the Lower Niagara River on the site of the former Schoellkopf Power Plant in Niagara Falls.  At the end of each season, Maid of the Mist VI and Mist of the Mist VII, are lifted onto the dry dock by the Liebherr crane, which has a lift capacity of 430,000 pounds and a 78 foot reach.


“Receiving this acknowledgment was a proud moment for the Maid of the Mist Corporation,” said Christopher Glynn, Maid of the Mist president. “It wouldn’t have been possible without our partners and the timing is perfect as we are gearing up for the season. The Maid of the Mist has an iconic heritage and this project is taking us into the future and next generation of its legacy.”

The primary feature of the storage facility is a 30,000-square-foot concrete pad, large enough to store two tour boats, plus two floating docks. One is for passenger loading upriver; the other is a maintenance dock that is installed at the facility during the tour season.
 
The project team also designed and built the foundation for the Liebherr crane; a 2,500-square-foot maintenance and storage building; a 328-foot long concrete retaining wall; rehabilitation and improvements to the original Schoellkopf plant’s elevator shaft; utility services – electric, gas, water, and communications – from the rim of the gorge surface down to the new facility; and a diesel fueling system for the boats. To reduce the potential for leaks and environmental impacts, there is minimal on-site fuel storage.


“ACEC New York is proud to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our member firms represented by these projects,” said Joseph Amato, ACEC New York Chairman. “Engineers are an essential part of our communities, designing the bridges and roads that carry us from place to place, the buildings that house us and our workplaces, and the water treatment systems that are necessary for a healthy environment. It is our mission as an organization to make sure these amazing, innovative contributions to life, as we know it, do not go unrecognized.”