The latest construction will add a 1,681m new quayside along which three new cranes will operate, the first due in this summer.

Dutch marine and dredging contractor Van Oord is handling the work, which involves the removal of some 600,000m 3ofclay and its replacement with some 1.1m m 3of sand. The berths will be deepened to 17.5m. Reclamation work involves some 9m m 3of sand, dredged from the rivers Jade and Weser by the trailing suction hopper units Geopotes 15, Ham311 and other special units.

Latest reports said construction would now be completed and all four new berths would be in service by early 2009, a little later than originally reported. By then, the Bremerhaven Container Terminal will boast 5km of quayside and a capacity of about six million TEU.

Waterside sheet piling for the new extension was completed in May. Although the work to backfill the quay was not finished by that time, it had reached the end of CT 4, allowing waterside drainage to be installed up to the closing wall.

Driving work was in progress on foundation piles for the pile grillage and the cast-in-place driven piles for the crane runway on land. The 5th and 6th ceilings, the 9th foundation slab and the 8th wall had also been concreted by May and further concrete work had been carried out on the pump station.

CT 4 officials said protective fenders were also being installed along the quay front.