NAVSEA, Carderock Division, Bethesda, MD

The members of the Carderock Division are the Navy’s experts for maritime technology. The division consists of over 3,000 scientists, engineers and support personnel working in over 40 different disciplines covering from the development of new technologies all the way to their implementation.

The Carderock Division contacted The Mezzanine Company about adding some storage to their division headquarters in West Bethesda Maryland. They had heard of us because of several mezzanines we had installed for other NAVSEA divisions.

When they first contacted us, it quickly became apparent that in order to gain them the necessary space, a raised structure was needed. This platform would have to take into account their existing floor plan and work around it.

Also, the parts that needed to be stored would be of considerable weight requiring extra engineering work and bracing to support the load on the platform.

Working closely with the manufacturer’s engineering department, we designed a storage platform with over double the standard load capacity of our common platforms. To help support all this weight, at the height of 10 feet off the ground, we utilized many X braces which were placed with careful consideration of Carderock’s floor plan so as not to affect or restrict their current traffic patterns.

The storage mezzanine was designed in an L shape to fit around a square work area on the floor below. For access to the platform, we included an OSHA regulation staircase. This mezzanine stair, while great for foot traffic, was insufficient for handling the transfer of heavier parts and materials needed to be stored on the platform. To solve this, we utilized two 4’ wide lift out gates that we positioned right next to each other allowing for an 8’ wide opening to be created when necessary. This configuration offered plenty of room and flexibility for loading and unloading of large materials onto the platform, suiting Carderock’s needs perfectly.

Lastly, by coordinating between Carderock, our installers, and the freight company, we were able to have the materials delivered and stored ahead of the installation. We scheduled the mezzanine installation to occur during a shutdown for Carderock so that the installation did not interfere with their facilities operations. By the time they came back to work, their new storage platform was waiting for them.