The Euromax Quay Wall: A Durable Construction

At the Port of Rotterdam, civil contractor BAM Civiel constructed the quay wall for the deep water container terminal known as `Euromax'. The work was executed under a design and construct contract. Delta Marine Consultants first developed the bid design for BAM Civiel and, after contract award, performed the detailed design for construction. The quay wall has to accommodate 12,500 TEU containerships, the design water depth is 22 meters and the total retained height of the wall is 27 meters. During the bid stage seven possible design concepts, subdivided into approximately twenty design options, were prepared by Delta Marine Consultants and evaluated in close cooperation with the estimating and work preparation departments of BAM Civiel. Based on criteria of economy, reliability and durability two designs were selected and proposed to the client in two separate proposals. In one proposal the main retaining element of the quay wall consisted of a steel combi wall (tubular steel piles alternated with steel sheet piles) and in the other proposal the steel wall was replaced by a concrete diaphragm wall. In the past many quay walls in the Rotterdam harbor area have been constructed utilizing steel walls as the main soil retaining element. However, due to corrosion problems with these steel walls, and especially the phenomenon of accelerated low water corrosion, the Port of Rotterdam encouraged the bidders to submit designs that did not use steel retaining walls. Despite the higher construction costs, the Port of Rotterdam opted for the second proposal with the concrete diaphragm wall, for reasons of durability and maintenance. This quay wall is the first in the Netherlands to utilize a diaphragm wall. The contract was awarded in April 2005, the first 375 meters of the quay wall was handed over to the client in May 2006 and the complete quay wall with a length of 1,975 meters was handed over in June 2007. This paper elaborates upon the designs of the quay wall. Specific features are the precautions taken in design and construction to ensure the quality of the diaphragm wall. The result is a high quality reinforced concrete quay wall that is not susceptible to corrosion. The first quay walls to be constructed on the future Maasvlakte 2 extension of the Rotterdam harbor will be of the same design. Construction of these walls is expected to start in 2010.