Update XXVI

Sadly, we will soon embark on our Christmas Break, and take a long vacation from the school life and the wonderful world of Systems Engineering II. Today our developmental work is due to be checked by our instructors. I have been working on it all week with Mr. Alfonse in hopes to get as close to completion as possible. Hopefully, the instructors will believe that I have succeeded in that goal, and I will be safe to roam the earth for another day.

Update XXV

Mr. Alfonse and I have been chipping away at my bill of materials and my plan of procedure all week. Recently Ms. McDonald took us to visit the museum out on the hook where we took a look at some scale models to get some ideas for our own projects. I think it was worth the trip. Today is friday and there is going to be a checkup so I need to work hard to keep up to date on all of my work that will be do before the Christmas Break.

Update XXIV

I have until friday to be proficient in my work with the plan of procedure and bill of materials for my final model. I plan to work hard this week on those. Ms. McDonald will be taking to visit a museum on Sandy Hook this week where we will be able to view scale models to get some idea of what ours should look like.

Update XXIII

Yesterday one of our instructors sat down with the Green Marina teams to discuss some of the problems that the other teams were facing. We identified several problems that left us completely stumped. Firstly, none of the Green Marina teams has identified definate boundaries for the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina. We do not know where the property line begins or ends for the marina. This is a vital part of the project. If we can not identify the property line, then there is no way to begin constructing drawings of our marinas in AutoCAD because we have to know the dimensions so we can decide on a proper scale for the drawing. Besides that, we also have to identify some contor lines for our drawings, but we will just take it one step at a time for now.

Update XXII

This week i will continue working on my developmental work with my partner. I recently had some problems with my blog that my instructors pointed out to me. I have successfully fixed those problems and I now have everything under control. This week I will continue working on my developmental work and finishing some of the orders for materials.

Update XXI

One of my instructors pointed out to me some problems that she was experiencing with access to my blog. We reviewed the problems together and I have begun fixing them. There is not much left to do. I should have everything under control by the end of today. Besides that I just need to continue working on my developmental work.

Update XX

It's Monday and were back from the break of Thanksgiving. This week we go back to work on our project once again. Over the weekend I took time out to visit with my partner John Degirolamo. We had a long hard talk about our final design. We decided that we will create one model that breakes apart into two pieces. We reviewed the possible materials that we might want to use, but we do not believe that there will be any need to buy materials through the school.

Update XIX

There are only 3 days of school this week before the Thanksgiving Break. Today, our instructors gave us forms to be used to order all the necessary supplies for our finalized senior projects; mine being the Green Marina Scale Model. Therefore, my partner and I must begin picking out our supplies for the final model. We will do much internet research. I would like to see examples of other scale models in order to see how people have gone about creating their models. I will also visit several hobby shops and crafts stores in the area in order to acurately predict the necessary tools and supplies for our final model. I plan to do a large amount of this field research over the long weekend.

Update XVIII

On thursday of this week, Mike Danko will be visiting our school to give a short lecture and answer questions for the "Green Marina Project" students. I am looking forward to his visit. I will be composing a few good questions for him in order to better my project.

Alternate Solution 1

For solution #1 I decided that it would be most efficient to leave all the buildings where they were and build around them. I believe that minimizing building would minimize the amount of pollution added to the environment. Over on the right side of the drawing you can see I added in a lift, storage areas, and electrical service utilities. Some of the parking lot was removed in the middle to make room for a rain garden and catch basin. The rain garden will collect all the runoff and rain water and funnel it to the surrounding plants and flowers. These small changes were not enough to re-design the marina; therefore this will not be the chosen solution.

Alternate Solution 2

Solution #2 was next. I moved all the main buildings at the marina, such as the restaurant, bait and tackle store and senior citizens center, and moved them next to the shore casino. This idea was made to mimic a sort of mini mall type area, in which all of these necessities would be easily accessible in one area. This solution however, does not include the majority of the criteria listed in the grid, and that makes this solution is by far the worst of all 3.

Alternate Solution 3

My chosen solution is solution #3. It meets all of the necessary criteria and more. For this solution, I based my design around a park theme. In the center of the parking lot there exists a nature area with trees and flowers, gazebos, and a fountain. Rainwater runoff will all be converged to this area, where it will filter in to catch basins that run into the fountain, so that the fountain will always be running off of recycled rainwater. This “wishing fountain” will also make money off of people who throw their coins into the fountain, and the money shall be used to benefit the environment. Besides that, this solution also has extra storage spaces, and an area for people to winterize their boats. Also, the parking spaces have been arranged on angles to allow for more room for parking. Best of all it matches up perfectly with my partner’s structural solution. Overall you can clearly see why solution #3 was my chosen solution.

Specifications Matrix

Update XVII

Today we are 2 days away from the end of the marking period. Tomorrow I will be staying after school to re-do my formal presentation on the report of progress. Right now I am working on perfecting my blog before the end of the marking period. Also due tomorrow is my mentor contacts. All of my contacts with my mentor exist in the form of phone calls. I hope that is not a bad thing.

Update XVI

On monday of this week i performed my formal update of progress for the first marking period. It did not go very well. I forgot to mention several parts of my project which resulted in failing grades from both of my instructors. I will be making up the presentation next tuesday after school in order to recieve a passing grade for the marking period.

Update XV

This week i finalized my outline and completed my informal practice run for the formal presentation that i will have to do next week. For now i will continue work on my outline and do my best to make my presentation as strong as possible. I want it to better match up with my blog, so i am improving my labels and the colors of my blog to make it more easily readable. I will also have to make some changes to my outline and define certain parts of the project that i blurred together on the informal presentation. I have two grade sheets from my instructors that i will use to help re-create my formal presentation in order to make it the best it can be.

Background Information

For our senior project we are required to plan, design, and construct a scale model of a green marina. The marina is located in the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Harbor. This marina must be converted to meet more environmentally friendly criteria. The project is separated into two distinct portions, a structural aspect, and a civil aspect. The civil standpoint takes place mostly on land, dealing with issues such as parking lots, and proper waste run-off. Anthony will take the roll of the civil engineer for this project. He will be focusing on pre-engineering portions of the project such as: sitescape/landscape analysis, deed description, site plan, roadway grade and the interpolation of contours. As the civil engineer he is responsible for re-designing all of the land based structures and other parts of the marina un-related to the dock itself. In order to properly manage the civil engineering parts of the marina, Anthony will first need a site plan of the already existing marina and base his new design around what we are able to work with at the site. The structural engineer’s job is to ensure that the proposed plans are structurally sound and that the proper precautions are in place to protect the docked boats, i.e. breakwaters. John will be taking the role of the structural engineer. This section of the project is sometimes referred to as the (wet portion), because it entails the aspect of the marina that is located on the water. John will have to decide upon an environmentally friendly material to use as a dock. John will also have to take the necessary precautions to ensure the boats are protected from the forces of nature. The final solution must meet the client’s demands, and in the end must meet their satisfaction. All of these needs must be met while the marina still meets “green” codes. All progress achieved during the span of this project will be logged electronically via a weblog as well as copied into a notebook. The logging of progress throughout this project is crucial. It keeps the designer on track while at the same time informs the client on the progress so far. Mentor contact is also crucial in this project. Mentor contact will help the designers stay on the right track as well as help them with any problems they may have along the way. For our senior project we have decided upon the “Green Marina” project. This project entails the design, planning, and construction of a scale model marina complete with accessories that help it meet environmentally friendly protocol. The final solution must be testable, and it must meet the demands and wants of an unspecified client.

One of the number one problems of the marinas of today (other than pollution) is the fact that there are too many boaters on the water on a regular basis. This is going to be one of the main problems to look in to as we develop our site plans for the marina.

Update XIV

Starting on wednesday of this week we began viewing of the informal reports of progress for my peers. I did not have the chance to give my presentation. I will present on monday of next week.

Update XIII

This weekend I finalized my model. I think it looks great! Now all i have to do is finish my outline for my informal report of progress. There are also some changes i might have to make to the blog so it is ready for the report. For instance my specifications grid did not copy on to the blog correctly and it is very frustrating trying to make it appear in the proper format.

Update XII

After a long discussion with my partner, we decided that is will be most effective to create 2 seperate models. He will design his structural engineering part on a board, and I will design the civil engineering aspect on a seperate board. Last night I began the initial work on my model but much more will need to be done this weekend.

Update XI

Over the weekend, my partner and i visited a craft store where we bought supplies to be used for our models. We also did some investigation behind the store where we located a bunch of cardboard that the were disguarding. It seems like a perfect material to use for the civil aspect of my part of the model.

Update X

This weekend I plan to meet with my partner John Degirolamo and discuss the production of our models in person. We will brainstorm several ideas in order to create the best possible functioning models.

Update IX

This weekend I finalized my Specifications and Limitations. I have composed a specifications grid to show how i came to choose my alternate solutions. I will now begin to fill in the grid with all of my specifications, and appoint appropriate grades to all of my alternate solutions for each specification.

Update VIII

At the beginning of this week i finalized my selection/rejection/intentions report with my specification matrix and posted it on the blog. For the rest of the week i have been working vigorusly on my next project - the model. We will be designing a model of the marina based off of both of our innovations. My partner John Degiralomo and i have been discussing possible ways to create the model, and also what we thinki the final outcome should look like. This has been a productive week, but future weeks will have to be more productive then this. Even though i think of how much I've accomplished, There is still much more to do. It was not until recently that I had realized that my calendar had issues on the blog. Not only would it follow you around everywhere you go, but it did not fit into the provided calendar space. I talked to Mrs. Hoffman and she helped me to resolve my problem. I think my blog has a much sharper appearence now.

Update VII

After I reconstructed work on both my brainstorming and alternate solutions, I thought, "why don't I also do some extra work on my selection/rejection/intention report?". This is why yesterday i made some major changes to that section of the blog. Also, for some reason I cannot seem to get my font to change colors on the blog. I will have to ask Mrs. Hoffman how to do that when I get a chance.

Update VI

I decided that my brainstorming could use some work, so i utilized the time that i had this week to try and perfect my brainstorming report. This section has been re-posted on the blog.

Update V

As I suspected, my alternate solutions needed some work. However, I recieved some positive feedback from my mentor and my instructors, and with a little hard work over the weekend, I believe that they are now more than sufficient. Soon week I hope to begin work on my model.

Update IV

Today my alternate solutions and brainstorming were due along with my selection/rejection/intention report. I had them finished on thursday night so all i had to do today was put them up on my blog and print out hard copies for the instructors. My alternate solutions may need some final touches done. I will see what my instructors think.

Current Blueprints

Selection/Rejection/Intentions

I have now developed several ideas for a solution to my design project. It is now time to sort through my ideas and determine which is the most viable idea to continue to develop. In order to do so, I will judge my ideas against the specifications and limitations in a chart called a specification matrix.


Specifications Matrix
Scale 1(worst) – 5(best)
Specifications
Solution 1:
Solution 2:
Solution 3:
Accommodations for vessels up to 200 Feet on land
5
1
5
75 dry storage spaces for boats up to 200 feet
5
1
5
30, 50 and 100 amp single and three phase electrical serviceUtilities
4
1
5
Complete marine repair facilities
3
1
5
88-ton travel lift and yardBoat brokerage sales and services
5
1
5
24-hour security
3
3
4
Dock Store – gifts, snacks, bait & tackle, and necessities.
3
2
5
Shower and laundry facilities
1
1
2
Attractive entrance with flagpole and signage
1
1
1
Parking for 500, 2% handicapped. 100 staff, 2% handicapped
4
3
5
Vehicular access roads with two entrances from the main roads
1
1
2
Fire Lanes
1
1
3
Catch basin with fencing/Rain gardens
5
1
5
Use environmentally preferred materials
3
4
5

Design for water conservation
3
1
5
Design to prevent discharge of wash or processed water or oil laden bilge water
2
3
3

TOTAL:

49

26

65




For the civil aspect of this project, I designed 3 entirely civil area of the marina located in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. The top photo is the currently existing design of the marina, and the 3 bottom photos are my improved designs. These designs have been created in order to best deliver the results of an environmentally friendly marina. The aspects of the marina that I have changed should help to make this marina as green as possible.
As you can see by the chart, the best design that I created was solution #3. This alternate solution best fits all the aspects needed in order to redesign this marina, making it “green”. The second best solution was solution #2. It had most of the areas covered that were required, but in the long run it still could not stand up to the criteria of the 3rd solution. Solution #2 is a long shot and did not even come close in the running. I will explain why in the following paragraphs.
For solution #1 I decided that it would be most efficient to leave all the building where they were and build around them. Over to the right you can see I added in a lift, storage areas, and electrical service utilities. Some of the parking lot was removed in the middle to make room for a rain garden and catch basin. The rain garden will collect all the runoff and rain water and funnel it to the surrounding plants and flowers. These small changes were not enough to re-design the marina; therefore this will not be the chosen solution.
Solution #2 was a disaster. I moved all the main buildings at the marina, such as the restaurant, bait and tackle store and senior citizens center, and moved them next to the shore casino. This idea was made to mimic a sort of mini mall type area, in which all of these necessities would be easily accessible in one area. This solution however, does not include the majority of the criteria listed above in the grid, and therefore this solution is by far the worst of all 3 (and that’s being nice about it).
My chosen solution is solution #3. It meets all of the necessary criteria and more. For this solution, I based my design around a park theme. In the center of the parking lot there exists a nature area with trees and flowers, gazebos, and a fountain. Rainwater runoff will all be converged to this area, where it will filter in to catch basins that run into the fountain, so that the fountain will always be running off of recycled rainwater. This “wishing fountain” will also make money off of people who throw their coins into the fountain, and the money shall be used to benefit the environment. Besides that, this solution also has extra storage spaces, and an area for people to winterize their boats. Also, the parking spaces have been arranged on angles to allow for more room for parking. Best of all it matches up perfectly with my partner’s structural solution.

Update III

For the next four days i will be working on finalizing my alternate solutions and my brainstorming. They are both due to be up on my blog by this friday. I have them both pretty much finished; only a few minor changes will be added.

Research

The first website that my partner and I researched over the summer was logically the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Website. Once there, we read through several pages of information until we found a page about clean marinas at:  http://www.nj.gov/dep/njcleanmarina/certified-greencove.htm

Once there, we discovered http://www.njcleanmarina.org/.

We used this website for a large majority of our summer research. This website is for a program created by the D.E.P. to protect these critical habitat areas that are home to a variety of species including algae, plankton, shellfish, and finfish. The program encourages marina owners, yacht clubs, boatyards and boaters to adopt practices that help prevent adverse impacts to water quality, sensitive habitats, and living resources in proximity to marinas. 

http://www.nj.gov/dep/njcleanmarina/
Helped identify what makes a marina green.

http://www.nj.gov/dep/njcleanmarina/docs/selfassess.xls
Provides a detailed checklist for green marinas.

http://www.columbiaisland.com/green.htm

This is a website for information about the George Washington Memorial Parkway Marina in Arlington Virginia. We used this website because it identified several areas where change was necessary in order for a marina to be considered green. This marina was transformed into a green marina a few years ago, and the process is documented on the website. We plan to use a similar process in the re-design of our marina. 

Update II

This is my second blog update. Today is friday, and our summer work is due to be posted on our blogs. This past week was used to review and revise our summer research and confine it to post up on our blogs. It is now up on the blog as my first "official" post.

Testing Procedure

The current marina in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey


-Meet with client and bring client to site to be sure it meets his/her standards.
-Demonstrate the functionality of the marina.
-Show proof that the marina is more environmentally friendly as compared to a typical marina.
-Show that the proper size vessels could be accommodated.
-Double check to be sure that all areas of the marina run smoothly and efficiently as they currently do.


In order to test the marina we have developed several strategies that could possibly be worst case scenarios for this marina. In order to identify these worst case scenarios, we interviewed several workers along with several customers we currenlty operate at the Highlands Municipal Marina. We found that most problems could be easily solved, and we took those in to account while designing wach of our specific sections of the marina. In order to test these worst case scenarios we will complete a "run-through" of the scenarios on our models using scale model boats and such in order to show how these problems will be solved.

Design Brief

Our Group Design Brief for this project is to completely re-design the marina currently in existence at the Highlands Municipal Marina in order to make it as environmentally friendly and effective as possible, without losing any positive aspects already in existence at the Highlands Municipal Marina, in the form of a site plan scale model for an unspecified client.

Civil Specs and Limits

Site Specifications (civil):
Accommodations for vessels up to 200 Feet on land
75 dry storage spaces for boats up to 200 feet
30, 50 and 100 amp single and three phase electrical service
Utilities for full service fuel dock with sanitary pump-out station
Complete marine repair facilities
88-ton travel lift and yard
Boat brokerage sales and services
24-hour security
Dock Store – gifts, snacks, bait & tackle, and necessities.
Shower and laundry facilities
Attractive entrance with flagpole and signage
Parking for 500, 2% handicapped. 100 staff, 2% handicapped
Vehicular access roads with two entrances from the main roads: may not be closer than 50 feet from intersections. Include lighting and drainage. Consider deliveries of food, mail and equipment.
Pedestrian walk ways
Fire Lanes
Catch basin with fencing/Rain gardens
Identify all existing and new contours and spot elevations at the corners of all structures, parking lots, and catch basins.

Minimize impervious areas and site building, workshops, and storage areas away from the shoreline.
Use environmentally preferred materials
Design for water conservation
Design to prevent discharge of wash or processed water or oil laden bilge water
Design to capture and treat storm water on site
Design to cultivate vegetated areas
Minimize paved areas
Minimize impacts of pressure washing
Address the special sewage handling needs of live-aboads.


Limitations (civil):

· Design must adhere to Green Marina compliances. http://cleanmarinesolutions.com/page/1
· Site design may not extend beyond the provided lot boundaries.
· Disturbances to existing site should be minimized.
· Two trees must be added for every tree removed
· Pedestrians crossing vehicular access roads should be avoided
· Intersections of vehicular access roads should be kept to a minimum
· Access roads must be separated from parking areas
· Cut and fill must e kept to a minimum
· Structures, decks, patios, pools, and paving, must not cover more than 40% of the property.
· Structures may not exceed the projected building lines of the front and side setbacks on corner properties.
· Check town restrictions on setbacks

Original Photos

Update I

Today I started my blog. It will be used to update my progress throughout this course and the project. I am still learning the basics, but hopefully soon i will be a true "blogger".