In early 2021, Cianbro’s work at The Wharf in Washington, D.C., drew the attention of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation (TSPF). Impressed, TSPF approached Cianbro with a new project: constructing a permanent berth for the Providence, a replica of the 18th-century ship that was one of the first to be authorized by the Continental Congress to form the Continental Navy. The project was also important to Senator John Warner, a former Secretary of the Navy and second longest-serving senator in Virginia’s history, who was actively involved in its planning and design.

The berth, located in Alexandria, Virginia, would not only become an area attraction for visitors to gain insight into life aboard the Providence, but would also be part of an effort to bring every fourth-grade student in the Commonwealth of Virginia to the historical waterfront while they were studying American History.  

In 2022, with the help of a donation from Ingalls Shipbuilding, a 135-year-old Virginia-based ship builder, TSPF secured the funding needed to proceed with the project. The work included constructing a visitor’s center that consists of two buildings built on an elevated decking system. The center sits on a series of nine sectional barges that are mechanically connected and stabilized by ballasting and steel stiffening elements. The two buildings of the visitor’s center include an education center, naval history theater, observation deck, and gift shop.

The Cianbro team constructed much of the floating building at the Morgan’s Wharf bulkhead, a deep-water facility in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by the company. The structures were then barge towed down the Chesapeake Bay and up the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia. Once the structures were in their final location, five pipe piles were installed to hold the structures in place. For access, a gangway was fixed to the barge and extended to a timber landing built adjacent to the waterfront.

The project site in Virginia was situated at Waterfront Park in Old Town Alexandria, an area renowned for its restaurants, parks, historic attractions, and businesses. The logistical challenges of constructing a project near a busy city park presented challenges in terms of available space for materials, equipment, and workspace. Through the utilization of innovative methods like off-site construction, the team successfully tackled these logistical hurdles while mitigating disruptions to the park and the surrounding area.

During construction, TSPF requested the addition of a tent to be used for events hosted on the barge with the “tie down” of the tent to be nearly untraceable. The team worked with a large tent vendor to develop a solution that included welding elevated stilts to the barges under the composite decking. The stilts are nearly undetectable to the naked eye when not in use. The visitor's center successfully held its first event with the tent, praising the team for their innovative and effective solution that met their requirements seamlessly.

In June of 2023, the visitor’s center, named the Senator John Warner Maritime Heritage Center, opened to the public.

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