By
Alex Smith |
The Port of Tarragona has installed the first caisson on the new Balears Wharf, which will measure 460 metres in length and allow the world’s largest cruise ships to dock at the port.
The caisson is a concrete foundation which is placed on the ballast base material once the foundation layer and levelling gravel have been completed correctly. As the first caisson provides the initial foundation and has to be placed without a prior reference, its placement is particularly slow and complicated. The operation was carried out in six and a half hours.
Eleven caissons are being produced on the Mar del Aneto floating dock, three of which have already been completed. Each of the foundations is 41 metres long, 16.75 metres wide and 21.3 metres high, and it is calculated that a full one will weigh around 33,441 tonnes. Construction of the caissons has surpassed the expected rate of one per week by approximately 25 per cent.
The overall project is now in the fourth of a total of 10 phases. The Balears Wharf is expected to be fully operational by spring 2021.