The JV said the first phase of the project involves building a new quay that is capable of handling ships with drafts of up to 15m, construction of five new berths, and reclamation of around 20 hectares of new land.

The new quay is being built 200m in front of the existing quay wall at the port - once it has been completed the area in between will be reclaimed by filling with around 3 million cubic metres of sand.

The existing facilities at the port cover an area of approximately 1,854 hectares and the harbour already has more than 50 berths.

The new quay wall and the reclaimed land behind it are part of the 'Port of Durban Development 2005' project, which is being implemented over a four-year period.

The Rand 271 million contract to build the new quay wall was awarded in February 2002 and also includes construction of a large diameter storm water pipe which will reroute the existing storm water drainage through the terminal. The 17-month contract is due for completion in July 2003. The quay wall is being constructed using a total of 52 caissons which are being pre-cast in a special facility constructed by the JV in the Port's Bayhead area.

Construction of the caisson yard began last year. Preparations included the driving of 3,000m 2sheet piles and 11,000m of 350mm square pre-cast piles.

According to information provided by the JV, Ground Engineering Ltd (GEL), a Grinaker-LTA specialist company, has imported a hydraulic hammer and crane to assist with the efficient driving of the piles on the contract. Six caisson construction bays have been built along with skid beams and a launch area.

Grinaker-LTA specialist company Karrena Africa was made responsible for constructing the caissons, at a rate of 4m per day per caisson or approximately 3.5 caissons per week. The 75,000m 3of concrete and 9,000 tonnes of rebar required for the contract are being supplied by local suppliers. The caisson yard has two batching plants, and concrete operations will be carried out 24 hours per day during the manufacture of the caissons.

The caissons are 18m high, 17m wide and 24m long. They will be jacked along skid beams, and lowered into the water until they float. Their displacement is approximately 10m. Once launched, the caissons are towed across the harbour before being placed in position.

The JV partners say Interbeton is providing the marine and towage expertise for the project, as well as the preparation of the stone and screeding of the beds and is responsible for overseeing the 5-7km voyage as the caissons are manoeuvered up the constricted shipping channel to the quay wall area before being sunk onto prepared stone beds. Once in place, the caissons are filled with water to sink them initially but once in place, the water is replaced with around 225,000m 3of compacted sand. Once positioned, a reinforced capping beam is cast to accommodate mooring bollards, fenders and ladders in the berthing area.

More than 3 million m 3ofmaterial from two borrow areas, approximately 1km and 2.5km outside the mouth of the port and the Vetchies Pier area will be dredged and pumped into the area enclosed by the new walls.

The dredging work has been assigned to Belgian dredging contractor Jan de Nul.

By the end of February, several caissons had been successfully launched and towed over to the quay wall site where they were temporarily parked. The first caisson was placed in position on 7 March. The ?33m project is due to be completed by mid-2003.