Orca Green Marine Technology Corporation (OGM) announces today that it has shipped its new LX2 Pier and Bridge Lighting product to American Bridge Mexico, a subsidiary of American Bridge Company. American Bridge was awarded the $27.5 million contract as the prime contractor for the reconstruction of the new Carnival Cruise Ship Pier in Cozumel, Mexico, due to be completed by fall 2008. American Bridge partnered with renowned global engineering firm, CH2M Hill, a full-service engineering, procurement, construction and operations company for the redesign of the pier.
The original Carnival Cruise Ship Pier in Puerto Costa Maya was destroyed when hurricane Wilma hit the Atlantic basin in October 2005. CH2M Hill's Tampa, Florida office was awarded the
design contract and presented Carnival with a design for a new 1,891-foot trestle and pier structure that could resist the wind and wave loads of a threshold category 5 hurricane
producing winds of 250 kmph (155 mph) or greater. Adding to the design and construction challenge, however, is that Carnival Corporation's Puerto Maya Pier, located just south of the
island's tourist hub of San Miguel, is also home to some of the world's most pristine coral reefs.
Notes CH2M Hill's website, "Protection of the island's fragile ecosystem was just as important as safeguarding the pier's survival in the face of future hurricanes. With coral reefs and
dive sites within just a few thousand feet, construction of the new pier was an especially sensitive undertaking. The CH2M Hill team designed ways to minimally impact the island's natural
resources."
Among those design considerations, were the use of LED lighting for the edge of the pier to aid in collision avoidance for other boats, while minimizing use of electricity and overall
cost of operations on the island of Cozumel. Orca Green Marine's line of USCG approved LED navigation lights have long had a reputation in the marine industry as rugged, reliable LED
lighting, so when CH2M Hill's engineering team evaluated suitable lights for this purpose, they chose Orca Green.
"Light-emitting Diode (LED) technology has come a long way since we first started making LED navigation lights back in 2002," said Hobie Caldwell, OGM's CEO and co-founder, "With the
advances we continue to see, we are able to provide more mainstream applications for a broader range of marine customers. OGM's vision is to provide high quality, energy efficient,
environmentally friendly LED lighting to industries where harsh environments and a need for energy efficient lighting make us a natural fit." Orca Green Marine's development has always
been driven by customer feedback and input, so next on the horizon for the pier and bridge lights will be an "off the grid" solution to be used for more remote areas or areas where
electricity is at a premium. "We're always looking for partnerships that can help us provide better products for our customers," says Caldwell, "And an "off the grid" LED lighting system
for bridges and remote parks is a natural next step for us."
About OGM (www.orcagreen.com)
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, OGM designs and markets LED Navigation lights for power and sailboats in its vision of bringing emerging and environmentally conscious technologies to the
marine market. OGM's line of products brings this new technology to the boater, addressing their biggest issues of power consumption and reliability. The company is the leader of LED
technology in the marine market with innovative, reliable products based on customer input. Products are currently available online at OGM's website, www.orcagreen.com, and at a growing number of channel partners worldwide. For a complete list of dealers, visit www.orcagreen.com