70 % of the world is covered by water, 80 % of the world?s population live near water and 90 % of all world trade is carried by water. A significant and growing part of this world trade is now carried by containers. PIANC Working Group 135 was set up in 2009 to address the issues relevant to the planning, design and operation of small and medium size container terminals. A number of earlier publications have addressed similar issues of general port planning in the past: for example, the 1978 UNCTAD Guidelines for Port Development and more recently the 2001 IAPH Guidelines for port planning and design.
rnThis present report concentrates specifically on small and medium size container terminals and attempts to introduce current best practices and recommendations for ports and terminal operators setting up and developing new modern container handling facilities and includes but is not limited to the following:rn
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- The latest design criteria for quay construction and container yard pavementsrn
- Current terminal layout planningrn
- The adaptability of terminals to service larger container vesselsrn
- The difficulties faced in changing operational technology to facilitate growing traffic levels and to improve performancern
- Environmental issues related to terminal construction and operationsrn
- Land shortage due to environmental or urban constraintsrn
- The increasing tendency to use new transhipment operational technologies and equipment with the resulting higher level and intensity of maintenancern
- The development in the use of information technologyrn
- New trends in the use of door-to-door logistics and inter-modal transportationrn
- The increased need for container terminal security such as ISPS Code compliancern
rnThe Working Group composition was balanced between consultants, port engineers with operational experience, academics and information technology practitioners from a range of countries.
rnThe first task that the group faced was to provide a definition of small and medium sized terminals and for the purpose of the report a small terminal is deemed to handle less than 250,000 TEU per annum and a medium terminal 250,000 to 750,000 TEU per annum. While this definition could be debated the principles set out in the report still hold good for terminals of this size as well as for many larger terminals.
rnIn addition to the previous work of PIANC MarCom 9 ? ?Design of Modern Terminals?, a review of other relevant literature and reports was undertaken including the 1978 UNCTAD ?Port Development Handbook?, the 2001 IAPH ?Guidelines for Planning and Design?, the 2005 Agerschou et al. ?Planning for Design of Ports and Marine Terminals?, the 2008 Carl Thoresen ?Port Design Handbook? and the work of MarCom WG 115 ? ?Guidelines for the (Un) Loading of Container Vessels?.
rnWG 135 met on a total of eight occasions over a period of three years from 2009 to 2012 and it is hoped the report will prove to be of benefit to engineers, operators, terminal management and Port Authorities alike.
rnThe topics set out in the report are the general technical aspects that should be considered when designing a container terminal. The terminal layouts provided in this report are indicative and should not to be followed literally. Automated RMG layouts are unlikely to be implemented in small terminals and in any case the equipment numbers will have to be based on a detailed study. The intent of the provided sketches is just to show typical terminal layouts.
rnDetailed design and implementation of such facilities and infrastructure is significantly more complex than stated in this report and it is highly recommended that experienced engineering professionals should undertake out such work. rn
