Transportation Engineering - Ports Engineering
Transportation Engineering - Ports Engineering
Port Engineering
Syllabus
1. Introduction, Site Selection,
2. Investigation, Coastal Protection,
3. Pier and Wharf Layout,
4. Fender system, Mooring Devices,
5. Dockside Utilities for ship Services,
6. Container Ports.
7. Physical and Operational Characteristics of Modern Container Ports:
8. Intermodal Container Terminals
9. Effects of Modern Logistics,
10. Liner Shipping, and Intermodal Transport on Port Operations
11. Container Terminal Operations and Cargo Handling Technology
12. Basic Planning for Container terminals:
13. Efficiency and Safety
14. Port/Container Terminal Facilities Analysis
15. Port Technology and Environmental Aspects of Port Operations
Course Overview:
This course presents a comprehensive analysis of the technological developments, economics, and institutions that are collectively shaping a new and highly competitive environment for marine ports. Port authorities, along with private terminal operators, shipping lines, rail companies, stevedore unions, and various service and logistics firms, are adapting to rapid changes in their operating environment. Technological advances in marine engineering and information technologies are lifting the industry to ever-higher levels of operating efficiency. The physical form and managerial characteristics of ports are being rapidly altered, in response to the strategic actions being taken by the various institutions that make use of and depend on marine port facilities and services. The cumulative effect of changes occurring in shipping industry, particularly the high-speed and high-capacity handling requirements of current mega container vessels have placed an immense pressure on port authorities and terminal operators. This circumstance is particularly critical for ports which frequently receive large vessels with capacity of 6000 plus containers. Given scarcity of land and severe environmental constraints on terminal expansion, enhancing terminal productivity and efficiency through better terminal planning and efficient management are essential to port operations. The agents and issues now changing the operating environment of ports are examined and discussed, and the effects that these changes are likely to have on container ports are analyzed to evaluate required container handling capacity and future trends in port engineering and development
References
1- Construction of Marine and Offshore Structures, Gerwick, Ben C. Third Edition, by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, USA, 2007.
2- Design of Marine Facilities for the Berthing, Mooring and Repair of Vessels, 2nd ed., Gaythwaite, John W., Taylor & Francis Group LLC,USA, 2004.
3- http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch4en/conc4en/ch4c3en.html
Introduction
Ninety percent of world trade is transported by ocean transportation. World trade is transported as liquid-bulk (petroleum products), dry-bulk (coal and grains), break-bulk (dry non-bulk cargo on pallets), neo-bulk (loose cargo of common size as automobiles) and container cargo. During the first half of the twentieth century, the ocean transportation of bulk commodities advanced; ships were designed to transport coal, grain and petroleum products. However, the transport methods for dry non-bulk cargo changed little. All of this began to change in 1955 when Malcom McLean recognized that individual pieces of cargo needed to be handled only twice - at their origin when stored in a standardized container box, and at their destination when unloaded.
An important feature of the economics of shipping relates to its capital costs, which requires financing. Because of their size, ships represent a significant capital outlay. Cruise ships represent the most expensive class of vessels, with the Queen Mary 2 costing $800 million, but even a container ship represents an initial capital outlays of $75 million.
The main advantage of maritime transportation is obviously its economies of scale, making it the cheapest per unit of all transport modes, which fits well for heavy industrial activities. On the other hand, maritime transportation has one of the highest entry costs of the transport sector. Typically, a ship has an economic life between 15 and 20 years and thus represents a significant investment that must be amortized. For instance, a Panamax containership can cost $50,000 per day to operate with most of the expenses related to fuel and port charges.
Diversity of Modes
Transport modes are the means by which people and freight achieve mobility. They fall into one of three basic types, depending on over what surface they travel – land (road, rail and pipelines), water (shipping), and air. Each mode is characterized by a set of technical, operational and commercial characteristics:
Road transportation. Road infrastructures are large consumers of space with the lowest level of physical constraints among transportation modes. However, physiographical constraints are significant in road construction with substantial additional costs to overcome features such as rivers or rugged terrain. Road transportation has an average operational flexibility as vehicles can serve several purposes but are rarely able to move outside roads. Road transport systems have high maintenance costs, both for the vehicles and infrastructures. They are mainly linked to light industries where rapid movements of freight in small batches are the norm. Yet, with containerization, road transportation has become a crucial link in freight distribution.
Rail transportation. Railways are composed of a traced path on which are bound vehicles. They have an average level of physical constrains linked to the types of locomotives and a low gradient is required, particularly for freight. Heavy industries are traditionally linked with rail transport systems, although containerization has improved the flexibility of rail transportation by linking it with road and maritime modes. Rail is by far the land transportation mode offering the highest capacity with a 23,000 tons fully loaded coal unit train being the heaviest load ever carried. Gauges, however, vary around the world, often complicating the integration of rail systems.
Pipelines. Pipeline routes are practically unlimited as they can be laid on land or under water. The longest gas pipeline links Alberta to Sarnia (Canada), which is 2,911 km in length. The longest oil pipeline is the Transiberian, extending over 9,344 km from the Russian arctic oilfields in eastern Siberia to Western Europe. Physical constraints are low and include the landscape and pergelisol in arctic or subarctic environments. Pipeline construction costs vary according to the diameter and increase proportionally with the distance and with the viscosity of fluids (from gas, low viscosity, to oil, high viscosity). The Trans Alaskan pipeline, which is 1,300 km long, was built under difficult conditions and has to be above ground for most of its path. Pipeline terminals are very important since they correspond to refineries and harbors.
Maritime transportation Because of the physical properties of water conferring buoyancy and limited friction, maritime transportation is the most effective mode to move large quantities of cargo over long distances. Main maritime routes are composed of oceans, coasts, seas, lakes, rivers and channels. However, due to the location of economic activities maritime circulation takes place on specific parts of the maritime space, particularly over the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. The construction of channels, locks and dredging are attempts to facilitate maritime circulation by reducing discontinuity. Comprehensive inland waterway systems include Western Europe, the Volga / Don system, St. Lawrence / Great Lakes system, the Mississippi and its tributaries, the Amazon, the Panama / Paraguay and the interior of China. Maritime transportation has high terminal costs, since port infrastructures are among the most expensive to build, maintain and improve. High inventory costs also characterize maritime transportation. More than any other mode, maritime transportation is linked to heavy industries, such as steel and petrochemical facilities adjacent to port sites.
Air transportation Air routes are practically unlimited, but they are denser over the North Atlantic, inside North America and Europe and over the North Pacific. Air transport constraints are multidimensional and include the site (a commercial plane needs about 3,300 meters of runway for landing and take off), the climate, fog and aerial currents. Air activities are linked to the tertiary and quaternary sectors, notably finance and tourism, which lean on the long distance mobility of people. More recently, air transportation has been accommodating growing quantities of high value freight and is playing a growing role in global logistics.
Intermodal transportation Concerns a variety of modes used in combination so that the respective advantages of each mode are better exploited. Although intermodal transportation applies for passenger movements, such as the usage of the different, but interconnected modes of a public transit system, it is over freight transportation that the most significant impacts have been observed. Containerization has been a powerful vector of intermodal integration, enabling maritime and land transportation modes to more effectively interconnect.
Telecommunications. Cover a grey area in terms of if they can be considered as a transport mode since unlike true transportation, telecommunications often does not have a physicality. Yet, they are structured as networks with a practically unlimited capacity with very low constraints, which may include the physiography and oceanic masses that may impair the setting of cables. They provide for the instantaneous movement of information (speed of light in theory). Wave transmissions, because of their limited coverage, often require substations, such as for cellular phone networks. Satellites are often using a geostationary orbit which is getting crowded. High network costs and low distribution costs characterize many telecommunication networks, which are linked to the tertiary and quaternary sectors (stock markets, business to business information networks, etc). Telecommunications can provide a substitution for personal movements in some economic sectors.
Types of Ports and Harbors
A harbor is a bay, cove, inlet, or recess of the sea or a lake, or the mouth of a river in which ships can enter and be sheltered from wind and waves. A port is a harbor with facilities for the docking of ships, cargo handling and storage, and transfer of passengers between land and waterborne transportation. A marina is a shallow draft harbor for small, predominately recreational craft. Small-craft harbors accommodate commercial operations or waterborne transportation operations, or both, as well as recreational boats of various sizes. Harbor and marina engineering is concerned with the design of available waterways in harbors, protective structures, docks, and the facilities for servicing boats or ships.
Harbors may be classified as natural, semi-natural, or artificial, and as harbors of refuge, military harbors, or commercial harbors. Commercial harbors may be either municipal or privately owned
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-A natural harbor is an inlet or water area protected from storms and waves by the natural configuration of the land. Its entrance is so formed and located as to facilitate navigation while ensuring comparative quiet within the harbor.
Natural harbors are located in bays, tidal estuaries, and river mouths. Well-known natural harbors are New York, San Francisco, and Rio de Janeiro.
-A semi-natural harbor may be an inlet or a river sheltered on two sides by headlands requiring artificial protection only at the entrance. Next to a purely natural harbor, it forms the most desirable harbor site, other things being equal. Plymouth and Cherbourg take advantage of their natural locationto become well-protected harbors by the addition of detached breakwaters at the entrances.
-An artificial harbor is one protected from the effect of waves by breakwaters or one created by dredging. Buffalo, New York; Matarani, Peru; Hamburg, Germany; and Le Havre, France, are examples of artificial harbors.
A harbor of refuge may be used solely as a haven for ships in a storm, or it may be part of a commercial harbor. Sometimes an outer harbor serves as an anchorage, while a basin within the inner breakwater constitutes a commercial harbor.
The essential features are good anchorage and safe and easy access from the sea during any condition of weather and state of tide. Well-known harbors of refuge are the one at Sandy Bay, near Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and that at the mouth of Delaware Bay. A fine example of a combined harbor of refuge and commercial harbor exists at Dover, England. A military harbor or naval base accommodates naval vessels and serves as a supply depot. Guantanamo, Cuba; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, are some well-known naval bases.
-A commercial harbor is one in which docks are provided with the necessary facilities for loading and discharging cargo. Drydocks are sometimes provided for ship repairs. Many commercial harborsare privately owned and operated by companies representing the steel, aluminum, copper, oil, coal, timber, fertilizer, sugar, fruit, chemical, and other industries. Municipal- or government-controlled harbors, often operated by port authorities, exist in many countries and are usually part of extensive port works, such as the harbors in New York, Los Angeles, and London.
-A port is a harbor where marine terminal facilities are provided. These consist of piers or wharves at which ships berth while loading or unloading passengers and cargo, transit sheds and other storage areas where ships may discharge incoming cargo, and arehouses where goods may be stored for longer periods while awaiting distribution or sailing. The terminal must be served by railroad, highway, or inland-waterway connections.
In this respect the area of influence of the port reaches out for a considerable distance beyond the harbor. A port of entry is a designated location where foreign goods and foreign citizens may be cleared through a custom house.
Port Terminals
Ports are points of convergence between two domains of freight circulation (sometimes passengers); the land and maritime domains. The term port comes from the Latin portus, which means gate or gateway. Ports are bound by the need to serve ships, and so access to navigable water has been historically the most important site consideration. Before the industrial revolution, ships were the most efficient means of transporting goods, and thus port sites were frequently chosen at the head of water navigation, the most upstream site. Many major cities owed their early pre-eminence to this fact, such as London on the Thames, Montreal on the St. Lawrence River or Guangzhou on the Pearl River. Ship draft was small, so many sites were suitable. Sites on tidal waterways created a particular problem for shipping because of the twice-daily rise and fall of water levels at the berths, and by the Eighteenth Century the technology of enclosed docks, with lock gates was developed to mitigate this problem. Because ship transfers were slow, and vessels typically spent weeks in ports, a large number of berths were required. This frequently gave rise to the construction of piers and jetties to increase the number of berths per given length of shoreline.