Capt. Phil O'Connell (left), ASNE Northern New England Section chairman, congratulates guest speaker Robert Obradovic, project engineer for Morrison-Knudsen.
The Northern New England Section of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), the Naval Civilian Administrators Association (NCAA), and the National Association of Naval Technical Supervisors (NANTS) recently sponsored a combined dinner meeting in Portsmouth, N.H. Many old acquaintances were renewed during the social hour and at dinner prior to the technical session.
The guest speaker for the technical session was Robert L. Obradovic, project engineer for the Morrison-Knudsen Company. Mr. Obradovic's subject for the evening was entitled "Moles and Men — Seabrook Power Plant Tunnel Project." He presented a well-received talk supported by numerous slides detailing the construction of the cooling water tunnels at Seabrook Station.
The tunnels (the only tunnels in New Hampshire) will be 19 feet in diameter, 150 feet below sea level, and 3½ miles long when completed this year. Built to protect the saltwater marshes and to be trouble-free for 40 years, the tunnels are being cut using a 1,200 horsepower circular cutting machine 22 feet in diameter called a "mole," which cuts through the mostly granite rock at 39 feet per day. Pumps will circulate 850 gallons of cooling water per minute through the completed tunnels via the undersea intake, which is the largest prefab shaft ever constructed.
At the conclusion of the presentation, ASNE Section chairman Capt. Phil O'Connell presented Mr. Obradovic with a book as a token of appreciation for coming to address the group.