DEME completes new port approaches in Durban – by David Foxwell
After almost three years work, Belgian dredging and hydraulic engineering group DEME has announced that it has completed a major port upgrading programme in Durban, South Africa.
No less than than four trailing hoppers and a dipper pontoon were assigned to carry out the work in Durban. On 31 March the new port was officially delivered to the client during a ceremony attended by port management and political authorities.
Durban is located at the east coast of South Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean. It is the busiest port in sub-Saharan Africa. The port upgrade works were tendered by TRANSNET and executed by a joint venture which included the local civilian contractor Group Five. Dredging International was the managing partner of the consortium. The total contract value was €220m, with DEME’s share amounting to €90m.
During the project, the existing northern breakwater was demolished and rebuilt, and the existing southern breakwater was strengthened. These preliminary works allowed for the port entrance channel to be widened from 120m to 220m, and to be deepened from 12.8m to 19m in the outer channel and 17m in the inner port. As a consequence, it will be possible for container vessels of up to 9,400 TEU and vessels of equivalent size to call at Durban port.
A total of more than 10m cubic metres of material was dredged, part of which was used for the foundation and the reinforcement of the breakwaters. Apart from the mega dipper Pinocchio and two split barges, DI 68 and DI 69, DEME assigned the trailing suction hopper dredgers Marieke, Krankeloon, Orwell and Pallieter to the project.
Since the stone dumping vessel Pompei was unavailable, having been hijacking recently by Somali pirates, stone dumping operations were executed by using a split barge, a customized platform (in fact an adapted spud-pontoon), and a cable crane operating from the shore.
‘The port upgrading and modernization in Durban was an outstanding example of a multidisciplinary approach: dredging, beach nourishment, reconstruction of the second breakwater, demolition of several quay walls and the removal of ship wrecks in the approach channel (including clearing a huge wreck in the outer channel)’, said DEME in a statement, noting that winning the contract for the project led to the company securing several other contracts in the region, including maintenance dredging in all South African ports between 2007 and 2011, maintenance dredging in neighbouring countries such as Mozambique and Namibia, and a beach nourishment project on behalf of the city of Durban.
With the football World Cup due to take place in South Africa later this year, and the promotion of the city of Durban as a tourist destination, Dredging International has also been contracted to carry out an additional beach nourishment project this month. Dredging International said safety on site was a major concern, and the consortium achieved 1 million hours without a serious incident or Lost Time Injury (LTI).
‘Particular challenges in Durban included the absolute need for good planning and coordination of the various, complex activities, the execution of the work with a variety of plant in the very busy, narrow entrance channel to the port of Durban, the limited space that could be used for all land based activities, and the rough weather and frequent storm conditions in the Indian Ocean, especially when working in the outer channel and at the southern breakwater’, DEME concluded.
