Warner Chang (lower left) and “talented, young engineer,” Hannah Freshcorn of Amentum (lower right), join a NASA bridge engineer to evaluate new bridge construction at KSC in 2023.
When we asked Warner Chang about his efforts to support a barge transporting hardware for SpaceX, his initial response was “glad you guys find our routine work interesting.”
Which definitely says a lot about Warner’s daily workload because this job was anything but routine.
Civil/Structural Systems Engineer Lead on the BOSS contract at the Kennedy Space Center, Warner provides engineering design and construction support for spaceport mission critical facilities and infrastructures. He joined Aerodyne in November 2021.
On June 12, 2024, Warner supported the loading of launch tower sections and chopsticks arms onto a barge for SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship, which were then transported from the Turn Basin to Starbase in Brownsville, Texas. The sections were manufactured at the SpaceX Roberts Road Operations Area at KSC.
“This was the largest barge to ever come through the Banana River Bridge,” said Warner.
“Each tower section is estimated to be close to half a million pounds.”
Warner’s role was port infrastructure and draw bridge support for SpaceX and the hired barge team.
“Barge transport frequencies at KSC have increased quite a bit over the past years to keep up with all the launches,” said Warner. “This one definitely kept all involved parties on their toes, the sheer size of the load and dimensions just barely made it through the marine navigation channel and cleared the draw bridge.
“A few times, the strong winds pushed the barge off the narrow channel path and grounded the vessel; tremendous efforts were required to keep the barge afloat due to its weight and dimensions. The tug commanding captain utilized the tidal advantages and called in a more powerful pulling vessel to maneuver approximately eight miles over 36 hours to pass the Banana River Bridge leading to Port Canaveral. The barge ultimately journeyed into the Atlantic Ocean then across the Gulf to reach SpaceX in Texas.”
The successful delivery allowed SpaceX to complete construction of its second launch tower for the Starship rocket in August. The company now has three Starship towers, two in Texas and Launch Complex-39A at KSC.
“Everyone was extremely relieved when the barge carrying the Starship launch tower sections cleared the bridge,” said Warner. “As NASA and BOSS support teams rallied on top of the trunnion pier to cheer on the barge convoy, we received a victory salute from the commanding captain in the bridge house of the pushing tug as it cleared the bridge house.”
The barge carrying SpaceX launch tower sections and “chopstick” arms is bound for Texas.
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