HOCHTIEF Construction AG Infrastructure Polska Sp. J. consisting of HOCHTIEF Construction AG Civil Engineering and Marine Works, Hamburg, Germany and HOCHTIEF Polska has completed the construction of a deepwater container terminal in Gdańsk North Harbour after 24 months of work. The facility, which is owned by DCT Gdańsk and is the first within the Baltic Sea to have the capability to service most post-Panamax container vessels with regards to access, depth of water, quay facilities and equipment, was officially opened on 3 October 2007.

With completion of the construction work, Poland’s largest deepwater container terminal DCT Gdańsk now provides facilities capable of handling post-Panamax container ships with a draft of up to 16.5 metres. The ice-free terminal will cater not only for the Polish market, but will act as a hub for containers bound for ports elsewhere in the Baltic region by providing space for two large vessels to be handled simultaneously. The 800 metres long and 315 metres wide quay comprises two berths, the first being 385 metres long with a depth of up to 16.5 metres, the second being 265 metres long with a depth of 13.5 metres. The terminal also offers a loading ramp to serve roll-on, roll-off ships.

In the course of constructing the terminal, access roads and a railway connection were built to ensure convenient accessibility. Furthermore, a 3,000 m2 administration building, a cargo freight station offering 7,500 m2 of space and a 1,300 m2 workshop were created.

Project milestones
Whilst general construction work commenced in November 2005, key handling equipment such as the first of three post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and two of five rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes, was installed in January 2007. The STS crane, which arrived at the terminal on the vessel Traveller on 25 January 2007, has been assembled on site. On 30 May 2007, PCC Rail SA, one of the biggest Polish private logistics operators, ran the first train into DCT Gdańsk's new rail terminal and brought in over 50 Hapag-Lloyd containers that were loaded onto Team Lines' 822TEU Götaland, the first ship to call at DCT Gdańsk on 1 June 2007.

Construction Technologies
The construction work of DCT Gdańsk was carried out in several stages and required the application of special methods and equipment.
For the first time in Poland, a large amount of increased corrosion-resistant steel was used in constructing the terminal. Furthermore, the Odin multi-function elevated platform was brought to Poland and used for piling work in relation to the immersing and anchoring of the berth. This platform turned out to be indispensable during the construction process, as it allowed for building work to be carried out with exceptional precision and speed, regardless of weather and sea conditions, and enabled almost 800 metres of berth wall to be constructed within three months.
The Odin platform had been used previously to construct the world’s longest quay wall as part of the container terminal harbour expansion in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Logistic Solutions
The construction work of DCT Gdańsk stretched over an area of 44 ha and saw approximately seven million m3 of soil being shifted. With this amount of earth, a one metre thick and 10 metres wide bank reaching from Gdańsk to Cracow could have been built. 20 trucks would have needed to make 12,500 trips each to transport these five million m3 of earth but in this case, no trucks were used. Instead, the dredger Geopotes 15, which can handle a load equivalent to 350 trucks, was used and completed up to six trips a day.

International Team
DCT Gdańsk North Harbour was designed by the Gdańsk-based company BPBM Projmors and HOCHTIEF Construction AG. The consortium carrying out the construction work, by order of DCT Gdańsk, was led by S.A.HOCHTIEF Construction AG Infrastructure Polska Sp.j. and consisted of HOCHTIEF Construction AG Civil Engineering and Marine Works (recognized as a world leader in the harbour engineering sector), and HOCHTIEF Polska. The team was supported by different partners, ranging from companies from the Polish hydro-technical industry, local subcontractors and suppliers, to Dutch and German companies bringing in specialized equipment and experience.
During peak times, more than 400 people were involved in the construction of DCT Gdańsk.

Technical data

Dredge work


Sand scooping: 3,750,000 m3
Warp scooping: 2,900,000 m3
Drying the ground: 300,000 m3
Protection against erosion: 500 m

Concrete work


Concrete: 110,000 m3
Steel: ok. 12,000 t

Piling


Tight walls: 11, 500
Piles embedded in ground: 18,500

Amount of earth moved during the work from sea bottom

6,7 million m3

Railway subgrade

2,000 m

Access road

2, 250 m

Information about the General Contractor

HOCHTIEF Construction AG Civil Engineering and Marine Works
The business unit Civil Engineering and Marine Works is HOCHTIEF Construction’s competence centre for harbour construction and marine works within Europe. CEM also is a strong partner for structural engineering in Northern Germany such as tunnel construction and bridge building.
CEM offers the know-how of an internationally experienced construction services provider. Comprised of highly qualified professionals, its teams implement technically and logistically demanding, large-scale construction projects. One of the particular strengths of CEM is the excellent planning and execution expertise – combined in a single business unit.
Whether it is planning, financing or constructing your facility – CEM is the competent partner and provides all services from a single source. Close cooperation with other HOCHTIEF divisions allows the business unit to offer all-in-one solutions Europe-wide.

HOCHTIEF Polska
HOCHTIEF Polska has successfully operated as a provider of complex construction services since 1996 on the Polish market.
The company specializes in the construction of office buildings, public buildings, housing projects, industrial buildings and facilities, and provides and-to-end services in the field of construction of roads and bridges, rail and seaport infrastructure as well as environment conservation utilities.
HOCHTIEF Polska has exceeded the classic service of the general contractor and offers the organisation of the whole investment process in the field of medium and small commercial buildings. The service offered as an added value includes selection and acquisition of sites, calculation of economic efficiency, preparation of a utilisation plan, turnkey construction of the building and its letting to the client. HOCHTIEF Polska currently employs 820 people and operates via a network of divisions and representatives across the whole Poland: in Warsaw (Budokor Branch, Infrastructure Branch), Poznań (Poz-Building Branch), Kraków (Kpis-Cracovia Branch), Katowice (Representative Office of Kpis-Cracovia Division for the Silesia region) and Gdansk (Representative Office of HOCHTIEF Polska).