About Us

At Taylor Marine, we focus on providing cost effective, innovative solutions with hands-on management, giving each project personalized attention from start to finish. With us, you won’t feel like another project. Our mission is to safely deliver high-quality, efficient marine construction projects on time and on budget.

Julius Taylor, PE, President, graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, subsequently serving in the Navy, specializing in Nuclear Propulsion, Surface Warfare and large ship operations. He is also a licensed captain, holding a Master of Steam or Motor vessel, Any Gross Tons-Oceans, with a towing endorsement, and a licensed professional engineer.

The company’s management & lead foremen, some of whom have been with Taylor Marine for more than two decades, have over 150 years combined “hands-on” experience in steel fabrication, industrial piping, concrete construction and pile driving on land as well as on water, making Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. well-suited for work on marine projects that require piers and docks with additional mechanical equipment and piping as found on tanker & barge loading/unloading facilities, as well as container crane foundations and crane rail work.

Julius Taylor, PE, President

What Sets Us Apart

Unlike larger companies whose main goal is high volume work, Taylor Marine is able to provide cost effective & innovative solutions with hands-on management, giving each project personalized attention, start to finish. The company is owned and operated by engineers who use their strong foundation of technical knowledge to bring an innovative approach to projects, while upholding the highest of quality & safety standards.

Added Benefits

EMR = 0.71

Strong bonding capacity

Excellent safety record and all applicable insurance coverage including performance bonding, USL&H and Jones Act

Exclusive use of NCCCO licensed crane operators

Construction & maintenance welding with AWS and ABS-certified company welders

Members of ISNetworld, Avetta, The Safety Council of Texas City (SCTC), Houston Area Safety Council (HASC), and others

100% employee participation in DISA Drug Testing

All company-owned & professionally maintained equipment, including floating & land-based cranes, barges, tugboats, and pile driving hammers.

Able to handle a wide variety of challenging marine construction projects on short notice.

Awards & Honors

Taylor Marine Construction, takes pride in every job, and we are especially proud of our award-winning construction projects, including back-to-back Pile Driving Contractors Association Project of the Year Awards and a CAGC Pinnacle award, the most prestigious recognition in the construction industry.

2009 Pile Driving Contractors Association Project of the Year Award: Morris Island Lighthouse

PROJECT SUMMARY

The Morris Island Lighthouse is an iconic, historic structure in Charleston, SC. Since construction of the lighthouse was completed in 1876, it has endured ten (10) hurricanes of Class I or greater, the 1886 Charleston earthquake, and bombing at the end of nearby Folly Beach during World War II. However, construction of jetties at the entrance of Charleston Harbor to improve shipping access from 1878 to 1896 started the erosion of Morris Island. In the 1890’s, the lighthouse was approximately 2,700 ft from the shoreline (Figure 1a). By 1938, the shoreline was at the lighthouse (Figure 1b) and the exposure of its foundation to the Atlantic Ocean began.

Figure 1. Selected Morris Island Lighthouse Photographs with Time.

The exposure of the lighthouse foundation to the ocean has led to the deterioration of the underlying timber piles and timber matting on which the structure is founded. A steel sheet pile cofferdam was installed around the lighthouse in 1939 to protect the lighthouse foundation. However, over the years, those sheet piles have corroded away above the mud line, once again exposing the lighthouse foundation. Over time, the timber piles under the lighthouse have become severely degraded, compromising the foundation integrity and moving the lighthouse towards collapse. In order to protect and stabilize the Morris Island Lighthouse from further damage, a steel sheet pile cofferdam was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This design consisted of ring of 46 ft long PZ‐40 sheet piles with a diameter of 72 ft and a protective riprap barrier. The new PZ‐40 sheeting was installed within 6 ft of the existing lighthouse foundation.

This project showcases the following: that driven piles can be installed in hazardous marine conditions safely and effectively; how collaboration between a pile driving contractor and an engineering firm dispelled the myth that installation of sheeting with vibratory hammers in sands damage adjacent structures; and that driven sheet piles are now effectively protecting a historic lighthouse in Charleston, SC.

1Photograph courtesy of http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g‐cp/history/WEBLIGHTHOUSES/LHSC.html.
2 Photograph courtesy of savethelight.org.
3 Figure taken by WPC personnel.

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2010 Pile Driving Contractors Association Project of The Year Award: Progress Energy Southport Nuclear Power Plant Diversion Structure

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Progress Energy Nuclear Power Plant is located in Southport, NC and consists of two General Electric Boiling Water nuclear reactor generating stations. Due to its unique location near the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, the plant draws its cooling water in from the Cape Fear River where it flows approximately 2 miles down a man-made canal. Once the water is used as coolant for the steam turbine condensers, it is discharged from the plant to the Atlantic Ocean via a 5.5-mile man-made canal, passing through a massive tunnel underneath of the Intracoastal Waterway (Figure 1). As seen in this satellite photograph, the plant is massive, and is a significant engineering and construction achievement.

Figure 1. Progress Energy Nuclear Power Plant Coolant Flow Canals

To prevent marine life such as fish and turtles, along with marine sea grass from entering the plant, a large Diversion Structure was built at the inlet of the Intake Canal. This 30-year old structure is V-shaped, with the annex facing the Cape Fear River at the center of the structure (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Diversion Structure

It consists of 2 end pile bents and 13 interior bents. Each bent is made up of four 24-inch square concrete piles with an imbedded H-Pile stinger in the end for driving. The tips of the piles are located at approximately -40 feet mean sea level with pile the stingers protruding an additional 10 feet into the bottom. A wire mesh screen and turtle excluder is maintained between each bent, and can be raised for cleaning by each of two special cleaning rigs on each leg of the structure (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Diversion Screen and Turtle Excluder

The screens rest on a seat beam affixed to the top of sheet pile extending to the bottom approximately 20 feet down from the surface of the water. With both reactor plants online drawing cooling water, and depending on the tidal level, there can be up to 3 feet of differential head on each of the screens. This differential pressure (DP) is felt for the entire vertical length of each screen, resulting in very large forces applied to the structure during high DP conditions. Of note, hurricanes and tropical storms can produce unusually high tides, which further increase the DP imposed on the structure. As a result of recent storms last decade, two of the structure bents have moved inward (away from the Cape Fear River) with a maximum deflection of 9-3/4”. If left uncorrected, this condition would further worsen, forcing the plant to be shutdown pending repairs.

Progress Energy contracted a well-known and reputable engineering firm to design a corrective system of driven piles to shore up the structure and prevent further movement. Taylor Bros. Marine Construction, Inc. (TBM) was contracted by Progress Energy to drive two test piles, and perform the subsequent installation of the driven pile system.

This project showcases that driven piles can be installed in the toughest of marine environments, and are often times the only viable solution to a problem encountered in the marine environment. It further illustrates that pile driving and foundation drilling often go hand in hand when soil conditions dictate, and that project owners and contractors should consider contingency plans for this necessity prior to generating contract documents, rather than after a problem has been encountered. It also illustrates the necessity to perform an adequate number of pre-job borings regardless of the apparent extra costs. The initial impending failure of the structure (movement) illustrates the need to ensure that the driven pile is installed per the minimum driving criteria to achieve success.

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US Army Corp of Engineers Safety Award

2012 Pinnacle Awards, Carolinas Associated General Contractors of America: Top Building Project In North and South Carolinas

The Battleship North Carolina Hull Repairs project was a qualified bidder project that was awarded to Taylor Bros. Marine Construction on 01 March 2011. At first glance, this project seemed to be a fit for a major shipyard based company, but Taylor Bros. Marine immediately identified it as a great opportunity for the company, and for the Battleship North Carolina. The challenges seemed immense, and included replacing 132 feet of hull plating under the waterline on the starboard bow of the ship. Taylor Bros. Marine Construction overcame these challenges by planning and engineering in lieu of change orders and swelling the budget. Out of six companies pre-qualified, including very large shipyards, a North Carolina based small business was selected to complete the work. Not only did Taylor Bros. Marine Construction complete the work, it was completed ahead of schedule and under owner budget. Taylor Bros. Marine Construction is very grateful for this work and we are honored to have helped save this piece of world history. This project merits a Pinnacle Award because it was a very technically challenging and unique project that was completed safely, on time and within the owner’s budget, without impacting the public’s access to one of North Carolina’s top tourist attractions. More importantly, this project helped save this historic icon from further degradation, ensuring that generations to come will be able to tour this magnificent tribute to American ingenuity and our World War II veterans, 10 of whom gave our country the ultimate sacrifice on her decks during the war.

The specified scope of work for the project was to design, build, and install an external cofferdam on the starboard side of the ship from Frame 4 to Frame 38 (132’ of hull) to complete the work, moving it as necessary and delivering the cofferdam to the owner upon project completion. Remediate all steel plating, framing, and bulkheads free of lead based paint as necessary to enable safe cutting and welding operations. Crop out and replace hull plating with new ½” thick A-36 steel plating within the confines of the spaces from Frame 5 to 38, and apply the specified coatings to the new steel, and any disturbed remaining steel. Taylor Bros. Marine completed the scope of work, plus three necessary minor change orders ahead of schedule and under owner budget.

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