Facilities

The NSF Wire Pool office is located on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Quissett campus in the David Center building.  The Wire Pool shares space and facilities with the WHOI Mooring Lab.

Our facility contains two 40-ft long horizontal tensile machines, each having a maximum tension capacity of 150,000 lbs.  The Wire Pool utilizes these machines to conduct tension member break tests. The Roberts Tensile Machine has a single 6-ft hydraulic cylinder for loads up to 150,000 lbs. and the Chant Tensile Machine has two 6-ft hydraulic cylinders (one for loads up to 10,000 lbs. and the other for loads up to 150,000 lbs.).  Both tensile machines undergo regular annual calibrations.

Plans are underway to purchase a spooling machine that will enhance our winding capabilities, giving us the capacity to transfer a tension member from one storage reel to another for inspection, measurement, and lubrication purposes.

The Wire Pool’s East Coast storage location is on the WHOI Quissett North campus. The tension members are housed inside a storage facility shared with the NDSF JASON group.  The Wire Pool’s West Coast storage location is at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Nimitz Marine Facility.