Increased draft at Muelle Principe Felipe, Port of Valencia

CPS carried out the technical assistance to the management of the work “increase of draft in the central section of the Principe Felipe Pier”, located in the South Dock of the Port of Valencia, where the Container Terminal 1 is located. The actions carried out were located in the central section of the dock alignment, which had a height of 16 meters over a total length of 500 meters.

The draft was increased by 2 meters, reaching a total depth of 18 meters in order to guarantee the operation of the latest generation ships, which have a maximum capacity of up to 18,000 TEUs, thus allowing the Port of Valencia to consolidate its position as a stopover in the Mediterranean for these mega-ships on their East – North America routes.

In addition, the foundation of the pier structure was reinforced, and the existing berthing system was replaced by another with suitable characteristics for this type of vessel.

The following activities were carried out to increase the draft and adapt the berthing elements mentioned above:

Dock reinforcement

The pier reinforcement consisted of the execution of a jet-grouting screen in a strip of at least 3.00 m from the foot of the seaward side of the caisson pier. The injection technique used will be Superjet (high pressure jet grouting).

Berthing and mooring elements

The existing berthing system on the dock line was replaced with an A-grade SC 1150H type double fender system.

Superstructures

The existing 100-foot crane rails (30.48 m rail spacing) were replaced on the entire section of the Príncipe Felipe pier terminal, along the entire alignment treated, both on the cantilever beam and on the rear crane beam, with an A-120 type rail on all the sections that currently have an A-100 type.