Berth Deepening A Three Decade Old Wharf Structure for the Next Generation of Container Ships-PDF

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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey modernized the 30-year-old wharves at Port Elizabeth Marine Terminal to accommodate deeper-draft Post-Panamax vessels and heavier, larger container cranes. The work was coordinated with a harbor-channel deepening program and carried out in five phases to keep the terminal operational.<br /><br />Key structural improvements included installing a steel king-pile and sheet-pile cutoff wall along the wharf face, enabling dredging to approximately 15.2 m (50 ft) while maintaining slope stability. Existing crane beams were replaced and new steel piles installed to support the cranes’ substantially increased vertical and lateral loads. Seismic requirements, storm-related crane uplift forces, and the condition of the existing structures were also assessed.<br /><br />The project replaced the old timber fender system with high-capacity rubber fenders designed for vessels of up to 152,000 metric tons, and added continuous-faced sections for barges. Mooring bollards were upgraded, and pavement and drainage were improved. Electrical infrastructure was expanded, including new transformer capacity and a buried waterside cable-reel system to supply the higher-voltage cranes.<br /><br />Combining new construction with the existing wharf proved the most economical approach, but construction revealed discrepancies between as-built drawings and actual pile locations, as well as abandoned piles obstructing proposed locations. Flexible, conservatively designed piles, caps, and beams allowed these issues to be addressed without major redesign.<br /><br />The project offers a case study for ports upgrading aging facilities to serve larger ships while maintaining ongoing operations.

Keywords

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Port Elizabeth Marine Terminal

wharf modernization

Post-Panamax vessels

container cranes

steel king-pile

sheet-pile cutoff wall

marine terminal dredging

rubber fenders

seismic and storm load assessment