About Us
Port Experience: CP&A has been involved in the port industry since our founding in 1987. We've brought together a dedicated team of structural, civil, and mechanical engineers, each possessing a wealth of experience in crafting cutting-edge engineering solutions. Recognizing the unique challenges posed by constructing projects within active marine terminals, our experts leverage their expertise in structural engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering to develop designs that not only meet the highest standards but also carefully account for the continuous operation of the terminal during construction. Our holistic approach ensures that every facet of your project aligns seamlessly with the intricate demands of marine infrastructure.
Crane Experience: CP&A is an international engineering firm that specializes in container cranes, ship loaders/unloaders, gantry cranes, floating cranes, and other material handling equipment. The firm has been providing all phases of crane engineering for over 35 years. CP&A holds multiple patents related to container cranes, including the most recent ship to shore (STS) crane base anti-seismic isolation system (BASIS).
Aerospace Experience: Our first project was the structural engineering and mechanical design of a rail‑mounted self‑propelled 100 foot cube building at Boeing's radar range to hide experimental stealth airplane concepts from view of satellites. Since then, Boeing has been a repeat client for dozens of projects for special structures such as an aluminum platform subjected to deafening white noise, several overhead crane projects, and earthquake upgrades at the Everett assembly building reported to be the World's largest building by volume.
To our Chinese clients, CP&A has several exclusive advantages over other engineering companies. CP&A has engineers fluent in Chinese and registered in both USA and China. These advantages will minimize engineering miscommunications, and will assure that our Chinese clients get the best engineering services from CP&A.
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Learn About Our History
CP&A was founded in 1987 by Bill Casper and Rich Phillips after relocating from California. CP&A started with pre-established worldwide recognition as structural engineers specializing in container cranes. To provide our ongoing clients with full multi-discipline crane engineering services we expanded our staff and associates to include mechanical engineers who specialize in cranes.
After becoming a world-wide leader in the structural design of complex material handling systems, we have built upon our success by expanding into several other areas. We now offer world-wide engineering services for the design and upgrade of commercial buildings, heavy industrial structures, seismic retrofit engineering, rigging, specialty structures, off-shore equipment, engineering software development and sales, inspection services, equipment procurement, accident investigation, and expert witness. Our staff includes registered professional engineers - civil, structural, and mechanical. Most of our engineers hold either Master or PhD degrees.
In 1996, The Boeing Company chose to add new elevated floors to be used as office and support areas within the existing towers. Boeing's factory at Everett is used for the assembly of wide-bodied 747 jetliners. It is a complex of six buildings, measuring 1,603 feet by 2,356 feet and 120’ high at roof. The factory could contain Disneyland under one roof and it is the world’s largest building by volume. Over a period of 30 years, the building codes have changed significantly, especially in seismic provisions. Adding mass to an existing structure meant upgrading to the requirements of the 1994 Uniform Building Code. CP&A helped Boeing to determine that a seismic upgrade was needed along with the other major renovations. CP&A suggested using supplemental damping in conjunction with appropriate stiffness modifications away from the ground level. Non-linear time-history dynamic analysis was used to simulate actual building performance and gave realistic design forces. The use of friction dampers reduced both internal forces and lateral deflections. Strengthening of foundations and the lower level structure was avoided. The chosen scheme provided significant saving in both construction cost and time. The construction work started in 1998 and was completed in 2004.
CP&A leveraged experience gained from the seismic upgrade of the Boeing Everett facility and applied a similar concept to ship to shore container cranes. We used the same type of friction dampers in the crane seismic isolation system as those installed on the Boeing Aircraft Assembly Complex in Everett, Washington. After years of research CP&A designed a base isolation system for a set of ship to shore container cranes that were built and delivered by DHHI to Asyaport in Turkey.
For other industries we offer high quality structural and mechanical engineering services for projects that range from mundane, such as a conventional retaining wall, to specialized and complex, such as an aluminum framework designed to withstand -millions of fatigue cycles from rocket motor tests.
We are located in Tacoma, Washington within convenient driving distance from the Ports of Vancouver British Columbia, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland.
Our Mission
CP&A is dedicated to providing the best in both client service and engineering excellence. Your expectations for service are uniquely yours. We are always open to your concerns and expectations as circumstances evolve. We urge each client to tell us what is important to them. Most projects have more than one good way to accomplish a task. Your input in selecting which one is best for you is always welcome.
