Manzanillo International Terminals - Phases II/III Wharf and Terminal

Manzanillo International Terminals (MIT), located on the Caribbean side of Panama, is the fastest growing container terminal in the Americas. The terminal, which opened for business in April 1994, is now handling more than 800,000 TEUs per year. The first phase consisting of 600 meters of container wharf and 20 hectares of paving was completed in late 1995. Shortly thereafter, MIT realized that the business growth could exceed the original projections of 400,000 TEUs per year by 1998, and began planning for expansion of the terminal. The expansion added new berths and container yard in the Phase I dredge spoil area to the south. The highly compressible silts and clays present at the site provided unique engineering challenges. A 625-meter, pile-supported wharf was constructed in two phases while the 16-hectare container yard behind it was being consolidated using a wick drain/surcharge program. The wharf framing consists of high-capacity concrete piles, precast concrete crane beams, cast-in-place transverse pile caps, and precast concrete deck with composite topping. The lateral load resisting system consists of steel pipe piles together with a steel sheet pile bulkhead and rock anchors. The wharf was designed for post-Panamax container crane loading. Concrete block paving (CBP) for the heavy-duty container yard was designed for rubber tired gantry (RTG) and container top pick loading. A unique and simple drainage system was constructed for the yard to collect and dispose of the high-intensity rainfall common in the region. The paper describes the unique features of the terminal expansion, such as reclamation, ground improvement techniques, fast-track construction, all-precast framing system and concrete block paving that were successfully implemented in the Republic of Panama for the first time.