published Atlantic Highlands Herald 8 June 2006

press release

LINCROFT, NJ — Caitlin Bogdan, a senior at High Tech High School, designed a replica paddle steamer while interning at Martin, Ottaway, van Hemmen & Dolan, Inc.

High Tech High School is one of the Monmouth County vocational high schools and is located at Brookdale Community College. Seniors are required to undertake a technical or scientific senior project that interacts with industry. (www.hths.mcvsd.org)

Caitlin Bogdan was interested in doing a project related to ship design and was brought into contact with Martin, Ottaway, van Hemmen & Dolan, Inc., (www.martinottaway.com) a maritime consulting firm located in Red Bank, NJ, that often provides positions for interns at their offices.

One of its partners, Rik van Hemmen, is also on the Board of Trustees of the Navesink Maritime Heritage Association (NMHA, www.navesinkmaritime.org). He suggested to Ms. Bogdan that she prepare a preliminary design for a replica Navesink steamboat.

The Navesink River used to have very active steamboat traffic and NMHA has been active in reviving interest in Navesink steamers.

Ms. Bogdan performed research and calculations, and prepared drawings on paddle wheelers at the offices of Martin and Ottaway. She then met with NMHA board members to get additional comments and suggestions, which she incorporated into her preliminary design. She presented her design at High Tech High School on May 25, 2006.

The resulting design can carry about 100 passengers for river excursions or excursions to New York City, and also will function as a floating classroom, a meeting center and floating headquarters for NMHA. The design posed various challenges, such as the need for wheelchair accessibility and the need to create an authentic looking design on an overall length of 100 feet rather than the customary 200 feet length of the original Navesink steamers. Ms. Bogdan also determined that an actual steam plant would be cost prohibitive and require specialized operating personnel. Therefore, while the vessel uses paddlewheels for propulsion, the paddlewheels are driven by a heavily soundproofed diesel engine through hydraulic drives.

Ms. Bogdan also presented her design to Scarano Boats (www.scaranoboat.com), the famous builder of replica vessels, located in Albany, New York. They reviewed the design for constructability and provided construction cost estimates.

While NMHA has no present plans to build the vessel, it is hoped that Ms. Bogdan’s design will serve as inspiration for potential partners in the construction of a replica steamboat. Ms. Bogdan herself very much enjoyed the project and the opportunity to assist NMHA. She stated that the project provided her with tremendous insight into the intricacies of ship design and design in general. Ms. Bogdan will be a full scholarship engineering student at the University of Massachusetts this coming fall.