Civilworks New England is assisting the University of New Hampshire (UNH) with design modifications to the twin hull tidal turbine vessel moored under the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth.
The University has been approved to use the Memorial Bridge location with its strong tidal currents to test multiple tidal turbine designs. The original tidal turbine was a vertical axis turbine, and the twin hull vessel is now being modified wider so the new turbines, such as horizontal axis turbines, will be farther from the bridge pier turbulence.
Many of the Civilworks engineers are UNH graduates and Duncan Mellor did his UNH MS degree in ocean and civil engineering, and was a consultant on the original tidal turbine facility design.