Investments in the Port of Gdynia – faster than planned

Seven months after the start of the investment of the construction of new manoeuvring and storage yards at the Port of Gdynia, the general contractor – NDI from Sopot – has already completed earthworks, ground strengthening, construction of a retention reservoir and 90% of works related to utilities. The area with a total area of over 17 hectares will be used for the storage of containers and wind farm elements. The value of the works covered by the contract will amount to approximately PLN 70.7 million net.

“Before winter, we already managed to start laying the auxiliary base, which we are currently continuing. Thanks to this, we are ready to lay the last layers of the pavement of the yards,” says Sylwia Rogall, Project Director from NDI. “A key move from the point of view of the schedule and pace of works was the decision to combine several methods of strengthening the subsoil. Thanks to this, it was possible to carry out works on several fronts at the same time, and involve more equipment units,” adds Sylwia Rogall.

The schedule of works and expenditures provides for the execution of variable works at the end of June 2021, but the General Contractor completed them in the first quarter of this year, thanks to the use of several innovative methods of soil strengthening.

In most of the area of the former “silting field”, NDI applied dynamic deep compaction methods, i.e. the method of dynamic consolidation DC, which assumes the improvement of the ground by means of high-energy impacts, caused by impacts with a weight (rammer) weighing from 10 – 40 tonnes, lifted by a crane and freely falling to the ground from a height of 5-40 m and the RDC technology (Roller Dynamic Compaction) consisting of the application of high-energy impulses on the ground surface by means of a special roller. In questionable places, MSC displacement columns and replacement of low-bearing soil were made.

“In April, we plan to start the most important and technologically demanding stage of construction, i.e. the construction of the main base and concrete pavement of the yards,” says Przemysław Młynarczyk, Site Manager from NDI.  ”At the same time, works related to the construction of a linear drainage system as well as works in the electrical and telecommunications industries will be carried out. Simultaneously, outside the construction site, the prefabrication plant produces steel elements of fences and platforms for handling refrigerated containers,” adds Przemysław Młynarczyk

The advancement of works related to underground utilities at the end of Q1 is 90% of the schedule, which provides for the completion of works at the end of September 2021. At yard no. 1, the key works related to laying the main base made of C 8/10 lean cement concrete, which were planned to be carried out in May, are already underway, as they have been commenced ahead of schedule.

“Infrastructural investments in the Logistics Centre in the western part of the Port of Gdynia, the key issue for the Outer Port project – a strategic investment of the Port of Gdynia – is to provide the necessary access infrastructure, both from the land and the sea. It requires the creation of appropriate facilities, thanks to which it will be possible to efficiently handle the goods. In order to fully utilise the opportunities arising from the increasing transhipment capacity, we need to provide favourable conditions for further development,” says Adam Meller, President of Zarząd Morskiego Portu Gdynia S.A.

The Port of Gdynia is a modern, universal port. The mission specified in the Port of Gdynia Development Strategy emphasises the need to ensure sustainable development of the service sector in the port. The technological and economic challenges determining the directions of development undoubtedly include the need to adapt the port infrastructure to handle the largest ships calling on the Baltic Sea. Transhipments at the Port of Gdynia are growing despite the global economic slowdown, a decline in activity in ports and on sea routes in the era of a coronavirus outbreak. The first months of 2021 turned out to be very intense for the terminals in the Port of Gdynia. In the period January – March 2021, 239,454 TEUs were handled, which, compared to the result for the same period in 2020 – 224,257 TEUs – is an increase of 6.8% in the area of containerised cargo. Annual increases and good forecasts for the coming years constitute a strong argument for investing in the infrastructure and superstructure of the Gdynia port in order to remain competitive.

The increase in transhipment of seaports is increasingly related to the potential of intermodal transport, which in the coming years will become a priority branch of freight transport both in Poland and in Europe. The growing volume of transhipments makes it necessary to build logistic facilities. With this in mind, Zarząd Morskiego Portu Gdynia is constantly carrying out investment works to develop infrastructure throughout the Port of Gdynia Logistics Centre.

One of the most important currently implemented investment tasks is a comprehensive project of conceptual development of the Western Port with an area of approximately 30 ha, along with the construction of manoeuvring and storage yards on an area of approximately 20 ha – an element of the Logistics Centre, including the construction of an intermodal terminal.

“Investments in this area of the Port directly follow the Strategy of the Port of Gdynia 2027. Our goal is to create favourable conditions for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Thanks to the investments that are currently implemented, we will be a suitable logistics partner for contractors both from Poland and abroad. An increased transhipment capacity is an opportunity, but also a challenge, therefore it is necessary to create favourable conditions for further development,” comments Jacek Sadaj – Vice President of Zarząd Morskiego Portu Gdynia S.A. “We are pleased with the good cooperation with the contractor and great interest among potential tenants.”