Greater Vancouver port expansion proceeds apace to meet rising demand
WORK has commenced on a new rail yard at the Deltaport terminal south of Vancouver now that the truck route 17 is linked to the TransCanada Highway, reports the American Journal of Transportaton.
The project will combine the existing two sets of four rail tracks into one set of eight tracks, reconfigure internal vehicle circulation and parking within the terminal.
It will also replace the seven existing 10 to 20 year-old manually-operated container cranes in the rail intermodal yard with eight modern wide-span quay cranes.
When completed the project will enable greater efficiencies, giving the terminal the capacity to handle a maximum throughput of 2.4 million TEU per year within the existing terminal footprint, said the report.
Plans for a second terminal, equal in size to Deltaport (Canada's largest), have already been submitted to federal government in Ottawa for approval.
Centerm, operated by DP World, has under gone a US$160 million upgrade in 2006 and converted operations to rubber tyre gantries (RTG).
This provided a significant increase in capacity. Now the Port Metro Vancouver Inner Harbour facility is planning a C$320 million expansion that will increase capacity by 66 per cent - from 900,000 TEU to 1.5 million TEU.
The terminal's footprint will grow seven acres westward, through a larger wharf structure and earth fill enclosed by rock dykes, to create a larger and reconfigured container yard and intermodal yard.
Other improvements include an expansion of the rail yard and laying a fifth rail track, an additional quay crane, modernised truck gate systems, an extension of Waterfront Road, and a new overpass.
According to Port Metro, with container trade volumes growing by between four to five per cent annually, the project is necessary to meet demand.
WORK has commenced on a new rail yard at the Deltaport terminal south of Vancouver now that the truck route 17 is linked to the TransCanada Highway, reports the American Journal of Transportaton.
The project will combine the existing two sets of four rail tracks into one set of eight tracks, reconfigure internal vehicle circulation and parking within the terminal.
It will also replace the seven existing 10 to 20 year-old manually-operated container cranes in the rail intermodal yard with eight modern wide-span quay cranes.
When completed the project will enable greater efficiencies, giving the terminal the capacity to handle a maximum throughput of 2.4 million TEU per year within the existing terminal footprint, said the report.
Plans for a second terminal, equal in size to Deltaport (Canada's largest), have already been submitted to federal government in Ottawa for approval.
Centerm, operated by DP World, has under gone a US$160 million upgrade in 2006 and converted operations to rubber tyre gantries (RTG).
This provided a significant increase in capacity. Now the Port Metro Vancouver Inner Harbour facility is planning a C$320 million expansion that will increase capacity by 66 per cent - from 900,000 TEU to 1.5 million TEU.
The terminal's footprint will grow seven acres westward, through a larger wharf structure and earth fill enclosed by rock dykes, to create a larger and reconfigured container yard and intermodal yard.
Other improvements include an expansion of the rail yard and laying a fifth rail track, an additional quay crane, modernised truck gate systems, an extension of Waterfront Road, and a new overpass.
According to Port Metro, with container trade volumes growing by between four to five per cent annually, the project is necessary to meet demand.