To main content

Port expansion, Balboa

The plans to expand the Panama Canal represent one of the most important infrastructure improvements of the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Since its opening in 1913 the Canal has provided the shortest and most economically viable shipping route from Pacific to Atlantic seaports. With the ever-increasing size of modern-day vessels, it was inevitable that the Canal would need to be widened and deepened. The expansion of the Canal has made the extension of the Port of Balboa at the mouth of the canal on the Pacific Ocean a necessity. The Phase 4 projects included Marine Works and Civil Works to improve two existing berths and to build a completely new berth capable of handling not only Post Panamax but also Super Post Panamax ships.

In 2007 a contract for the improvement behind berths 16 and 17 at the container port of Balboa was awarded to Boskalis by Panama Ports Company SA, a member of the Hutchison Port Holding Group of Hong Kong, to be completed in a 15 month timeframe. Soon after, other contracts to build a completely new berth followed. The contract required dredging, reclamation and improvement of water and land areas. At Berth 18, in addition, drilling and blasting rock was necessary. 

Related projects

Selected filters
8620740517_e75a0d7703_o_1__header.jpg

Reinforcing Dutch
coastline, Sandmotor

In December 2010 Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. was awarded a contract by the Dutch Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management to reinforce part of the coastline in the province of Zuid-Holland by creating a ‘sand engine’. The total value of the contract is EUR 50 million for the Van Oord- Boskalis consortium, in which Boskalis has a 50% stake.

IMG_1101_header.jpg

Port expansion LNG terminal, Cuyutlán

The Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport awarded Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. two contracts for dredging an access channel and turning basin at the Cuyutlán liquefied natural gas import terminal on the west coast of Mexico.

Oranje___CDF_31Oct11__2__-_aangepast_header.jpg

Design and construction harbor channel, Sydney harbor

The 'Sydney Harbor Channel Dredging Project' in Nova Scotia, Canada, involved dredging and reclamation work as part of the construction of the new Sydney Port container terminal located on the northeast coast of Canada. Once operational, Sydney Port will be the most northerly deepwater container terminal on the North American east coast.

9CHP0243_header.jpg

Port construction,
Khalifa port

The Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ), one of the world’s largest greenfield development projects, is part of Abu Dhabi’s major diversification plan to develop various sectors such as property, tourism, infrastructure and others. Abu Dhabi’s main existing port, Mina Zayed, is hemmed in by Abu Dhabi city, limiting its accessibility and the possibility for expansion.

edax_aroima_copy_header.jpg

Maintenance dredging, Berbice River

One of Guyana’s major export products is bauxite, which originates from the Aroaima, Kwakwani and Ituni regions around the Demerara and Berbice rivers in north-eastern Guyana. Guyana annually exports approximately 2.2 million tons of bauxite from it’s mines along the Berbice River. Boskalis International has long been associated with the mining industry in Guyana. In 1990 a long-term overburden removal project for the Aroaima mine was begun in Guyana involving the dredging and disposal of a sand and clay layer of 30-45 meters thickness.

CHP10918_header.jpg

Port reconfiguration, Felixstowe

Capital dredging and filling works for new quay development (previously known as Landguard Redevelopment). Phase 1 of the reconfiguration programme consists of: 730 m new deep water quay and 200,000 m2 container handling area achieved by installing new quay in front of old Landguard port structures and redevelopment of the old Landguard terminal.