Toe Wall Design and Construction for Busy Container Berth Deepening

Located on the west bank of the Guayas River and in the largest city of Ecuador, Contecon Guayaquil S.A. de C.V. (CGSA) Terminal is one of Ecuador’s busiest container terminals and plays an important role in supporting the country’s position as the number one exporter of bananas. The terminal has more than 5,000 linear feet of berth with about half of the length capable of supporting NeoPanamax vessels. The terminal owner embarked on an ambitious capital infrastructure program to deepen and upgrade approximately 2,300 ft (700 m) of container berths and modernize two ship-to-shore container cranes to service 20-wide container ships. The deepening of the berth was achieved via the region’s first completely underwater toe wall installation that allowed the owner to dredge the berth pocket without impacting the framing of the existing berths. This paper describes the unique design approach and successful sequencing of installation of the underwater toe wall and will serve as a useful example for deepening of existing berths for other owners.