J.F. Brennan Company (Brennan) formally announces their Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified joint venture with Ahtna Marine & Construction Company, LLC (AMCC). Publicly titled the Ahtna – J.F. Brennan JV, the partnership establishes a mentor protégé relationship between Brennan and Alaska Native Corporation subsidiary AMCC.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity in the United States. An important duty of FERC is to monitor conditions of the more than 1,700 non-federal, electricity-generating dams in the US. They also set standards that hydropower project owners must follow to ensure the safety of the general public. This includes mandating regular inspections of hydropower projects to certify they are in sound condition and comply with the Commission’s safety standards. Owners not in compliance with the Commission’s inspection standards risk losing their power generating license.

J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) recently won a contract with AECOM Energy and Construction (AECOM) for remediation work on LaGrange Lock and Dam on the Illinois River. The contract required us to partake in major gate and concrete rehab while supplying wireless internet access not only to our own Brennan office trailers, but also to prime contractor AECOM and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the duration of the multi-year project.

Brennan blog posts were viewed 13,622 times in 2019. Reviewing our most-searched blog topics helps us construct a list of the marine industry's most critical topics and those most pertinent to our company. So, what were the most-searched topics?

British company Fish Guidance Systems Ltd specializes in fish guidance equipment. They were set to work alongside Barr Engineering (Barr) as the prime contractor in a new study-based project in Kentucky, and hired J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) to help execute their revolutionary endeavor.

At Brennan, we work on dams of various sizes and functions. Very few new dams are built each year, so most of our work consists of rehabilitation and repairs. Dams are built to last for long periods of time, however certain components require periodic repairs and replacements. Radial gates, often referred to as Tainter gates, consist of components most commonly in need of attention. In our experience, we have found certain best practices that will increase the longevity of these gates, as well as increase their functionality.

There is a lot of buzz around the president’s infrastructure plan lately. It is clear that everyone wants better infrastructure, regardless to which party an individual may belong. The biggest challenge to getting what everyone wants is funding, and making matters more difficult, the allocation of this funding is another source of disagreement. As a contractor that provides construction services to owners of infrastructure, it is clear that the waterways are suffering the most from lack of investment.

When considering our infrastructure often times our inland waterways are forgotten. What most people may not know is that barge transportation is as important as railways or highways.  Barges are responsible for moving more than 60% of grain exports throughout the United States.  Barge transportation is a very efficient mode of moving bulk materials such as grains, coal, and other commodities.  As stated by the National Waterways Foundation 1,750 short tons of dry cargo fit into one barge which is otherwise 16 rail cars or 70 trucks.