Westside Modernization Project
Scaling up North America's fasting-growing container terminal
Port Saint John
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Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
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2018 - 2022
Port Saint John has become North America's fastest growing container terminal.
Constructed some of the world's largest concrete caissons amid over 8-meter-high tides.
Dredged and reused 600,000 m3 of soft soils as land reclamation.
Winner of the ACEC New Brunswick 2023 Power of Collaboration Award.
Challenges
- In order to meet increasing capacity needs, Port Saint John wanted to expand its container terminal and intermodal capacity as part of its Westside Modernization Project.
- The project needed to construct scalable infrastructure to meet increased capacity while still maintaining port operations in some of the world's highest tides.
- Port Saint John needed a partner to help navigate significant design and operational challenges, including 8-meter-high tides and the dredging of approx. 600,000 m3 of soft soils.
Solutions
- Led upgrades, design, and development of innovative infrastructure to accommodate future high capacity at the port. This included a second berth to accommodate larger vessels, extra tall concrete caissons, and a new 9,000-foot intermodal rail yard that is scalable to meet future growth.
- Designed and developed a combination wall reinforcement for the existing wharf and a piled wall to connect the new berth while preparing and managing multiple dredging contracts.
- Assisted with consultation efforts with local First Nations, engaging directly with communities to develop capacity agreements in support of continued relationship-building between Port Authority and the Nations throughout project construction.
Highlights
- In one construction season, designed and constructed eight 27-meter-high concrete caissons, which have never been built to this size in Eastern Canada before. These caissons are one of the tallest backfilled caissons in North America.
- Delivered significant positive impact to New Brunswick's economy and increased terminal capacity to 650,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).
- Dredged 600,000 m3 of soft soils and reused the soils as land reclamation, creating several acres of land, increasing the size of the Port's container terminal, mitigating major environmental disruption, and saving project costs.
8 new, extra-tall concrete caissons
27 m high caissons
600,000 m3 of soft soils to dredge
650,000 TEUs in increases to terminal capacity
16 tenders