Gothenburg port expansion inaugurated

Planning for the new 144,000m² terminal began as early as the 1990s, with a mission to concentrate terminal operations in the outer port area, away from the city centre and nearer to transport infrastructure.

“Now that future is here, and this terminal is needed to meet the transport needs of Swedish industry today, which are also expected to continue growing over time,” said Göran Eriksson, CEO of the Port of Gothenburg.

The terminal has been named ‘Arendal 2’, and some of the new space will be taken by the Swedish cruise line Stena as it relocates from the city centre.

There are also going to be filling, channelling and water purification for a future ferry terminal, the port operators say.

To form the foundations of the new port area, 180,000m³ of contaminated materials were dredged from the Göta River then solidified.

“We have hit two birds with one stone here, where we have both managed to clean the river and dispose of dredging material locally without unnecessary transportation,” said Eriksson. “This has been done in a safe and environmentally friendly manner under a strict control programme. The goal of re-using as much material as possible has been very successful in this project.”

Arendal 2 has had 42km of electric ducting installed, 11 pump stations and 250 wells, with a storm water treatment plant and nine lighting masts.

To build rock embankments around Arendal Bay, 1,500 piles had to be driven into the seabed before the dredged material was in-filled, stabilised and solidified. 

The Port of Gothenburg is the largest in Scandinavia, handling around 20% of Swedish foreign trade and 50% of all container traffic.