THE design and development of a new container terminal in the Port of Naples has posed many problems because it was so heavily polluted in the past, reports the Maritime Journal of Fareham, Hampshire.
Building the new terminal involves the clean-up of polluted materials, quantifying and characterising the dredgings, the construction of a groundwater cut-off wall and design of drainage pipe system to control piezometric levels.
The contract has been given to Trevi Construction and the work to build the new container terminal has to be carried out while the port is in use.
Naples is one of Italy's largest seaports with capacity to handle 25 million tonnes of cargo and 500,000 TEU a year as well as nine million passengers.
Demand for facilities is expected to increase further and this project will more than double the capacity of the container handling facilities.
The extension of the Eastern Dock will add 200 metres of quay to the existing 11.5 kilometres of docks Naples. The overall length of the new quay will be 670 metres allowing two containerships to be handled at the same time.
The length of the new quay will allow two 6,000-TEU ships to berth at the same time or one 11,000-TEU ship. Before the new dock cranes can offload the first cargoes, Trevi needs to complete work on new docks.
This task is complicated by the geology of the site and the need to keep the rest of the port operational throughout the work.
The existing Levante terminal that is being modified has seven hectares of open water, which is partially enclosed by two 250-metre piers, each 70 metres wide, and separated by a 70-metre length of quay wall.
Water depth in the terminal varies from seven metres to 15 metres. The new quay will have the possibility of being dredged at a later date to an average water depth of 18 metres, to accommodate the biggest of containerships.
Within the current plans, however, the water depth will be limited to 14 metres.
The new quay is being created by constructing a cofferdam, that is, an enclosure pumped dry to permit construction work below the waterline, as when building bridges or repairing a ship.
This structure will then be backfilled with dredgings from within the port, so the quay structure must be completely waterproof.
The Port of Naples lies between two volcanic areas, the main one being nearby Mount Vesuvius and this gives an indication of the challenging ground conditions at the site. The geological sequence is covered by backfill from the construction of the dock that overlies sandy-silty soils and tufa over more sandy soils.
Construction work is expected to be completed early next year, which will then allow work to start on the installation of the container handling equipment and facilities.
The total surface area that will be created by the filling in of the Levante Dock area is 263,000 square metres and this will be equipped with container handling equipment supplied by the terminal operator Conateco.
For discharging the ships there will be eight quay cranes with a 60 tonne capacity, able to handle containers from postpanamax ships. 22 straddle carriers, providing an annual capacity of one million TEU, will supplement these.
Rail and upgraded road links are planned with sums earmarked for back up infrastructure for the 500 staff employed at the site together with customs and administrative facilities.
PORTS
08 December 2015 - 23:16
Building a million TEU box shop proves to be a challenge in Naples
THE design and development of a new container terminal in the Port of Naples has posed many problems because it was so heavily polluted in the past, reports the Maritime Journal of Fareham, Hampshire.
PORTS
08 December 2015 - 23:16
Building a million TEU box shop proves to be a challenge in Naples
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