Designers & Planners, Inc. (D&P) of Arlington, Va., one of three firms awarded a replacement study contract by the State of Alaska, recently delivered its conceptual design study for the replacement of the aging Tustumena. This work represents an expansion of D&P involvement in ferryboat work for the State of Alaska. Prior to this conceptual design study, D&P had provided the production drawings for the 408-foot passenger/car ferry Matanuska.
The recent replacement study, directed by Carlos Tomassoni, director of ship design and marine economics at D&P, was completed in the required 63 days, and involved a fleet transportation analysis leading to a conceptual design of the optimum replacement vessel.
Concept designs, incorporating the results of the hydrodynamic trade-off with payloads and schedules for completing solution fleets, were prepared and costed on the basis of similar vessels built in U.S. yards. Operating costs for competitive systems were determined, and implementation schemes for future acquisitions for the fleet taken as a whole were developed for total system comparisons.