Development Plan Dordrecht Seaports: Determination of the potential segments for the Dordrecht Seaports

Dordrecht Seaports (DS) is an inland port located next to Rotterdam with a direct connection to the North Sea. Since the first of July 2011 the Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR) is taking over the management of the port from the municipality of Dordrecht. In the current situation not all companies are port related. The port related companies are active in the storage of liquid bulk and dry bulk with especially ore & scrap. The yearly throughput of the DS is around three millions tons (3,2 million ton in 2010). After an analysis of the productivity (dry and wet), it can be concluded that this port at the moment is not used as a sea port, but as an inland port. With an analysis is shown which segments can optimize the port. This analysis is done from three different analysis pillars, namely: area, stakeholder and vision. In the first pillar (area) is concluded that the DS is surrounded with other business areas in the surroundings. The maritime industry has settled its roots here and is still active in this area. For adding values to the cargo, which has to be exported from or imported by the DS, new business areas can be used which come available around DS. Those areas are Dordtse Killen III and IV, Logistic Park Moerdijk and Nieuw-Reijerwaard. Besides that, the DS can contribute as an added value in the (port) network of Rotterdam. With enlargement of DS in the network of PoR, PoR can also contribute on advantages. The second pillar is the pillar of stakeholders. With the analysis of their interests and issues the importance of the different stakeholder are determined. Next to the PoR, also the municipality of Dordrecht, the companies within the DS and the Drechtsteden are the most important stakeholders. Their main issues are accessibility and the economic progress of the area. The last pillar of analysis is the framework on the vision of PoR on DS. Based on the Business plan and Havenvisie 2030 of PoR, the relevant elements are taken into account for the development of the DS. From the Havenvisie 2030 the growth percentages of each segment are the base for the determination of the growth percentages of the DS. With a band width between the Low Growth (LG) scenario and Global Economy (GE) scenario, a translation of the growth percentages is determined, based on the history trend lines and some special factors. The expected growth of the throughput of the DS in 2022 is between 3,5 and 3,9 million ton per year with a large increase for the segments coals and ore & scrap. The segments other dry bulk and other general cargo decrease within this time horizon. From those three pillars the potential segments are determined to optimize the port. This is done with a multi-criteria analysis per pillar. Maritime industry and other general cargo have a high potential level, which is in contrast with the segments short sea and Ro/Ro. With the fulfillment of the potential segments in the basins an ideal situation is sketched. It is concluded with this segments classification in the basins in combination with extra implementations to optimize the port, a new throughput is expected between 6,5 and 6,9 million ton for 2022. With a case study of damping a basin it is shown that more throughput can be realized. The business case is not profitable in first instance, but this is quite normal for damping business cases. With some minor changes in the variables of the incomes, this will be profitable. This means that PoR has realistic options to optimize DS.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Prefeasibility study for the Port of Itajai

In southern Brazil, in the province of Santa Catarina, the port of Itajai is situated. The port is located at the mouth of the river Itajai-Acu, about 3 km inland. The Port of Itajai is very important for both the local and national economy because of its role in foreign trade, and due to this prominent role in the community many stakeholders are involved. To allow larger vessels into the harbour of Itajai there has been a constant process of deepening the approach channel and the harbour basin. In order to compete sedimentation process in the harbour basin will change. From a commercial point of view it is very interesting to search for other solutions to keep the river at the required depth besides dredging. There are four main principal solutions to reduce the sedimentation of the harbour basin: reduce the sediment production, reduce the transport capacity of the river, increase the flow velocity and redirect the sediment. All these possibilities have a positive effect on the sedimentation in the harbour. Reducing the transport capacity of the river with the use of a sand trap is expected to have the most effect. with surrounding harbours it is important to allow safe navigation of larger vessels as this results in greater cargo handling at lower cost. Due to recent developments the Port of Itajai is investigating the possibility to receive vessels with a length of 300 m overall, 45 m beam and 14 m draught. The Port of Itajai is facing two different kinds of problems, one concerning the alignment and the other concerning sedimentation. In order to deal with the problems the current situation was mapped. The river, sea and harbour characteristics are given; river discharges, flood events, harbour development, harbour lay out, tide, wind and wave direction. At this moment the approach channel of the harbour deals with some imperfections, which makes it difficult, sometimes even impossible, for the design vessel to sail through the channel. Also the current turning circle is a problem as turning of the new design vessel will be extremely difficult and the safety is questionable. With a cost benefit analysis the best possible location for a larger turning basin is determined and a number of changes for the alignment are given. Without human interventions the estuarine system would be in a dynamic equilibrium. The bathymetry would adjust to varying conditions and oscillate around this dynamic equilibrium depth. This is the depth for which the average annual sedimentation is zero. When the natural dynamic equilibrium is disturbed as a result of deepening the estuary, the system will try to restore itself. This causes sedimentation and maintenance dredging is required to maintain the newly dredged areas. The volume of the required maintenance dredging depends on the extent of the disturbance in relation to the equilibrium situation. A larger deepening will lead to smaller flow velocities and therefore to higher sedimentation rates. The sedimentation that occurs in the Itajai Acu estuary is a complex ensemble of processes, which is influenced by processes at the boundary conditions. The two most important processes are the tidal fluctuations and river discharge. To gain insight in the wet system, hand calculations and a 1D-computer model were made. The effect of a number of human interventions on the Itajai-Acu river are determined with hand calculations. With the 1D-modelling software, SOBEK, the effects of the planned dredging are determined.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience