Working Above & Below The Waterline

SUS is wrapping up significant repairs at the Vane BrothersCo. City Dock facility in Philadelphia, PA, along the Schuylkill River. A jointeffort between our commercial diving and marine construction crews enabled usto repair 30 existing piles in various stages of deterioration and install 18new fender systems. This project presented several challenges, most notablyworking with and around an active dock with daily marine traffic.

Piledrivers, crane operators, and commercial divers worked side by side to completethis job for the client and rehab a deteriorating dock for a busy marineterminal. We are proud of our work here and look forward to an ongoingrelationship with Vane Brothers for future marine work.

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Specialty Underwater Services (SUS) is serving as the prime contractor for a $5 million bridge rehabilitation project in Wicomico County, Maryland, for the Maryland Department of Transportation. The project involves the rehabilitation of two bridge structures spanning the Wicomico River and represents one of the largest contracts in the company’s history. Construction began in late spring 2025 and is scheduled for completion in mid-2026.

The scope of work includes marine and underwater construction activities to extend the service life and structural integrity of both bridges. SUS is installing new 90-foot concrete-filled steel pipe pile dolphins, new vertical timber fender boards, and new wire bands around existing timber dolphins. The project also includes extensive rehabilitation of underwater concrete abutments and piers, as well as the stabilization of undermined abutment sections. Additionally, SUS is performing underwater epoxy crack-injection repairs to bridge abutments and piers.

As part of the rehabilitation effort, the original timber pile dolphins were removed and replaced with five new seven-pile dolphin clusters. Each cluster consists of 24-inch-diameter, ½-inch-wall, 90-foot-long steel pipe piles reinforced with epoxy-coated rebar and filled with 5,000 PSI concrete. To date, 35 pipe piles have been successfully driven. SUS’s dive teams are continuing with underwater spall repairs and epoxy injection work.

The Wicomico River Bridge Rehabilitation showcases SUS’s ability to self-perform complex underwater construction, marine piling, and structural rehabilitation work while managing large-scale projects as a general contractor for critical transportation infrastructure.

Specialty Underwater Services (SUS) pile driving crews were called out on multiple occasions from our Baltimore waterfront facility to provide some quick needed work for the boating season. On one trip timber piles were removed and disposed of properly and replaced new piles. In addition, damaged facial timbers and hardware were replaced and new hardware was installed at the floating dock connection. Subsequent trips included the removal and disposal and replacement of timber piles.

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