WHOI Pressure Test Facility

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute was in need of a new facility to accommodate their equipment for advanced work in underwater pressure testing.

The project began with flatwork to provide a super flat slab. It was crucial to meet the exact tolerances specified for scientific testing equipment installation. The building itself is small in size, at only 1,600 square feet it is a frame of mostly concrete that houses the Institute’s new pressure test vessel.

The new pressure vessel can test scientific equipment at pressures that are equivalent to ocean depths of 14,000 meters or nearly 8.6 miles. This pre-launch pressure testing is an imperative safety procedure that guarantees that the scientific equipment will survive these harsh physical forces when deployed to its designated ocean depth.

The newly constructed facility resides at WHOI’s Woods Hole Campus among a variety of other buildings vital to WHOI’s scientific research.