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Port development, Mombasa

The Port of Mombasa is currently the biggest port on the coast of East Africa north of Durban, and the only international port in Kenya. It is now in the throes of a huge expansion drive to both increase cargo handling capacity and accommodate Panamax and Post Panamax vessels. The port is a transit route for, mainly, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Northern Tanzania. The current container terminal has an installed capacity of 250,000 TEU but handled more than 770,000 TEU in 2011. The port will raise its profile as a regional hub by building a second container terminal with a capacity of 1.2 million TEU. The port authority decided to construct the container terminal in phases.

Challenges

The main challenge on the project was the fact that Boskalis had to work with weak subsoil with a low bearing capacity. There were also environmental challenges because the sand borrow area was situated between marine reserve parks.

Work method

On 1 August 2012, Boskalis International B.V. signed the sub-contract for the dredging and reclamation works for the first construction phase for the second container terminal. Before construction of the quay walls, three deep trenches were dredged by TSHDs Argonaut and Willem van Oranje to remove the weak subsoil and replace it with sand. Boskalis soil specialists invested large amounts of time and energy in sourcing suitable sand in the immediate vicinity of the project. After the removal of 1 million m3 of soil, the soil improvement area was filled with offshore sand by TSHD Willem van Oranje and a spray pontoon. Reclamation had to take place very carefully to avoid mud slides and circular slip. During reclamation to +1 m CD, the spray pontoon SP10, positioned on six anchors, was used to apply layers of 75 cm; that part of the work was completed successfully on 11 March 2013. The remaining sand was applied in layers up to +5.5 m CD using land pipelines. Boskalis successfully met some challenges with extreme local settlements. The +5,5 m CD level was completed on 7 May 2013. This activity was followed by a surcharge fill to a maximum of +11 m CD to reduce settlement time.

Related projects

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Construction of
Marker Wadden

Boskalis has been awarded the first phase of the Marker Wadden development in the Netherlands. The project includes the construction of an island with underwater landscaping. The Marker Wadden are natural islands that will be developed in the Markermeer lake in the years to come. They will provide a major boost for the ecological quality of the Markermeer lake. The natural shores of the islands will give fish more opportunities to spawn and feed. As a result, large numbers of birds such as terns and waders will return to the area because there will be more food for them. The construction of the Marker Wadden will transform the map of the Netherlands.

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Outer harbor channel widening, Adelaide.

The Port of Adelaide is the primary port in South Australia, located at Outer Harbor. The port is operated by Flinders Ports Pty Ltd (Flinders Ports) and handles both container and cruise vessels, contributing significantly to the State’s economic activity. Flinders Ports identified the need for an upgrade of the existing infrastructure driven by the emergence of Post Panamax class vessels. To meet this growth the existing channel had to be widened to accommodate vessels with a maximum width of 49 m without operational restrictions. Flinders Ports contracted Boskalis to execute the dredging works.

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Johan Sverdrup, transport.

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. is Equinor’s Fabrication and Transport contractor of the Johan Sverdrup project. Boskalis has been awarded by Samsung as transportation contractor for this project.

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IJsseldelta

The IJsseldelta project is part of the national Room for the River program, which comprises over 30 measures aimed at upgrading the flood defenses in the Dutch river areas. The project involves lowering the summer bed of the Lower IJssel river along a length of 7.5 kilometers near the town of Kampen and creating a bypass to the south of Kampen.

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NORDSTREAM II

Allseas Engineering had been awarded with the contract to support partly with construction of the offshore natural gas transmission system comprising two 48” diameter pipelines from Russia to the Baltic through Germany (NPSP2). The installation of the NSP2 pipeline has been performed by Charterers pipelay vessels: Solitaire, Pioneering Spirit and Audacia.

Port expansion, Tuas Mega Port Singapore

Boskalis is part of a consortium that won a contract related to the construction of the Tuas Mega Port in Singapore. After Shanghai, Singapore is not only the world's largest container port, it also handles 50% of global crude oil production and it is the planet's busiest transit port. The port is the economic motor of Singapore, which is constantly struggling with a shortage of land.