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Full service: Expansion of the container terminal at Berlin's Westhafen harbour

The Berlin port and warehouse company BEHALA is expanding the container terminal at Berlin's Westhafen harbour by 2026 in order to promote the transfer of goods to rail and thus contribute to a successful transport transition. The Berlin branch of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Verkehrswegebau secured this challenging contract not only for economic reasons. Good experience from previous construction projects also played a role in the decision. Supported by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Specialised Civil Engineering and the Münster Construction Materials Laboratory, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø offers a comprehensive solution from a single source and contributes its expertise in the fields of traffic route construction, track construction, electrical plant construction and pipeline construction.

The Berlin port and warehousing company BEHALA is expanding the container terminal at Berlin's Westhafen by 2026.

 

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Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø makes a contribution to climate protection

Berlin's western harbour is a proud 100 years old. It is the only trimodal freight distribution centre in the capital that combines three modes of transport: road, rail and water. The approximately 430,000 square metre site between Wedding and Charlottenburg has its own railway siding and is directly connected to the A100 federal motorway, the Westhafen Canal and the Berlin-Spandau Shipping Canal. In order to be prepared for increasing demand, the operator is increasing the storage capacity on the site by around 15,000square metres, creating space for 1,200 additional 20-foot standard containers. In addition, a new gantry crane with ship handling and track facilities for block trains up to 740 metres long are being built.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Specialised Civil Engineering produced pile foundations in record time

Due to the increased loads, all the pipes and media on the site had to be renewed during ongoing operations. These include, for example, an almost 300 metre long DN1000 rainwater drainage system, thousands of metres of cable protection pipes and a district heating pipeline. The new container area is being realised with a 50-centimetre-thick reinforced concrete slab. The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø transport infrastructure team is also constructing three shunting tracks, a new terminal access road for lorries and two crane runways for the new gantry crane. One is based on the old harbour wall, the other on 54 large bored piles, which Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Specialised Civil Engineering ‘produced in record-breaking speed’, praises project manager Michael Werk. ‘Especially as the very high loads required additional planning work in advance. Almost all of the civil engineering materials are special solutions or customised products,’ he continues.

Adherence to deadlines is the top priority for this project

Nevertheless, the work must not hinder operations at the terminal at any time. Coordinating the various trades as well as the deliveries and removals is therefore an additional challenge. ‘In order to save costs for disposal and materials and also to drastically reduce theCO2 footprint of the construction site by eliminating lorry transports, we suggested to the client that the soil be improved with the demolition material. This is where we benefit from the expertise of our in-house building materials laboratory, which provided us with detailed advice on the final concrete mix design and soil improvement,’ Werk continues. Of course, the strict Berlin environmental protection regulations are also being observed on the construction site. For example, the groundwater has to be temporarily lowered to create the rainwater drainage system. It is regularly analysed before being discharged into the harbour basin.

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