Polder Container Terminal

Polder Container Terminal

van Beemen, J.F. (j.vanbeemen@royalhaskoning.com) (Royal Haskoning, Netherlands)

2010-06-22

New ports are mostly constructed on low lying coastal land or in shallow coastal waters. The surface level of the land for port facilities is then raised to a level well above the highest water mark. This requires vast volumes of good quality fill material often dredged from the sea. Besides the cost of dredging, there is the environmental impact of dredging. Container terminal operators generally ask for sites which are well above the highest water level. Is this justified, and is there a way of constructing safe terminals with smaller volumes of dredged material and thus lower environmental impact? Royal Haskoning explored the possibilities of a container terminal with a “polder yard”. The yard would lie below high water level and would be surrounded by an embankment keeping the water out. Part of the embankment would have the form of a quay wall with apron for vessel berthing. A polder needs storage capacity for rain and seepage water plus a system for discharging the water. This storage can have different forms, such as storage in gravel beds or surface water. Often new port development requires compensation in the form of development of nature elsewhere. If the polder surface water is developed as wetland area inside the polder terminal, nature may be compensated for within the port. This paper explores the possibilities of the polder container terminal, concept solutions for layout, the embankment type quay and how to overcome level difference between yard and apron.

port infrastructure
container terminal
land reclamation

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5379e36e-cd95-40f7-8af1-2a0dcbf5cad4

Conference proceedings

conference paper

(c) 2010 van Beemen, J.F.