Feasibility study of port project Clifton Point, New Providence, Bahamas

Feasibility study of port project Clifton Point, New Providence, Bahamas

Schaap, E.A.

Ligteringen, H. (mentor)
Groenveld, R. (mentor)
Labeur, R.J. (mentor)
Veldhuyzen, W. (mentor)

Ingenieursbureau Lievense

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

2007-10-31

The current port of the city of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, encounters a capacity problem for the current port. A previous study for the Bahamian Government concluded that the area of Clifton Point is most suitable for relocating the main part of the port structure. This report will focus on the feasibility of the appointed project site. With a relatively small amount of wave data, the operational and extreme conditions of the port are determined. Because the project is situated in the Caribbean, the influence of hurricanes is also included. The site conditions show that the conditions at Clifton Point are relatively calm. The next step is to determine the characteristics of the relocated vessels and cargo. Therefore a forecast is performed. With the forecast the functions of berths and terminal areas are determined. For this reason a capacity study is performed. Several alternatives are generated for the new port design. Because of the restricted availability of surface area at the project site, the alternative options are limited. The limited surface area is caused by the presence of an industrial area and the fact that the shore in front of the coastline is relatively steep. After performing a multi criteria analysis it is clearly that an inland port design is inefficient in relation to a port which is based on land reclamation. In a detailed study the configuration of the breakwaters is optimised; variant layouts are elaborated to select the best option of construction costs in relation to the occurring annual downtime. Also the manoeuvring of the vessels arriving at the new port structure has to be checked. The breakwater will also be designed in more detail. The geometry and composition of armour protection are part of this design. Also details of the structure like for example the armour layer at the head of the breakwater are determined. Finally it can be concluded that the chosen design is technically feasible. All design vessels are able to berth in a port, which provides a sufficient capacity and a safe turning basin for the navigation of the vessel.

ports and waterways

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:c3080ed1-a574-4f3e-82cd-56ee9c07c86c

TU Delft, Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Hydraulic Engineering

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2007 E.A. Schaap