Naval Submarine Base New London held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday to unveil its new submarine pier.
Rebuilding Pier 32 cost over $68 million to construct, and replaces the original pier that was built in 1978.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) said new infrastructure, such as the pier, is essential to the subbase in maintaining is future.
“It is built for the class of submarines that’s under construction a short distance away down in Groton, Virginia Class Program," Courtney said at the dedication event, "and with the Pier 31 on deck, which will be extended to accommodate the larger Virginia payload, this is exactly, again, where this base needs to go to be part of the most important mission in our country’s national defense.”
Pier 32 is 65-feet-wide and 525-feet-long — large enough to accommodate two submarines at once, which the previous pier couldn’t.
“Think of it as a double wide," said Captain Ken Curtin, the 53rd Commanding Officer of the subbase, "able to accommodate cranes and trucks in support of one boat on one side of the pier, while in no way impeding the services and support of the other boat on the other side of the pier."
"This is a major upgrade from the 1978 pier that, really, we could only sustain work on one submarine at a time," he continued.
It's constructed from climate resilient materials that will last longer and require less maintenance with electrical and other services placed above the flood plain.
