Thoma-Sea Wins $24 Million Contract For MSU Barge

Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC, Houma, La., has been awarded a $24,491,400 contract by the Philadelphia Engineer District to construct a specialty steel barge for the Corps’ Mat Sinking Unit (MSU) on the Lower Mississippi River.

The barge will use a crane-based robotic system in support of the MSU’s revetment efforts under the Mississippi River & Tributaries Program.

The ABS-classed barge will be 188 by 74 by 10 feet with a  sloping overdeck structure, raked at both ends and on one side. There will be a 41-foot-high gantry structure along the entire length of the barge. The Corps will supply the robotics package through a third-party integrator.

The MSU, built in 1940, is being replaced over the next several years. The new design will double the number of mat squares that can be placed in a season. More on the modernization project can be seen in the July 8 WJ.