Newsletter #435 (View other news stories)
Port expansion gains momentum
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Thursday, 5 Nov 2009
 NSW ports minister Joe Tripodi says the government will invest over AUD260 million in the terminal project this financial year.
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The AUD1 billion expansion of container facilities at Port Botany has reached a significant phase with the laying of concrete "counterforts" which will form the face of the third terminal’s 1,850 metre wharf.
More than 200 20-metre high concrete sections known as counterfort wall units are being constructed on site before being taken by barge onto Botany Bay and lowered into place.
The concrete counterforts will form the 1.8 km of new wharf face against which ships will berth when the terminal is completed in 2011. The outer wall will consist of 199 counterfort sections with an additional 17 units used for the tug wharves.
The giant concrete blocks are constructed at a concrete batching plant to reduce the impact of trucking movements on the local community.
Once completed, each unit is transported to a temporary wharf, taken by barge to its final location and lowered onto a compacted sand and gravel bed.
The new terminal will provide additional capacity to meet projected long-term trade growth for Sydney and provide better access to shipping lines for the state’s exporters.
According to NSW ports minister Joe Tripodi, the government will invest over AUD260 million in the terminal project this financial year as construction hits peak levels.
"Work at the new 63 hectare terminal has created more than 400 on-site construction jobs. It’s estimated once fully operational, the expanded capacity will boost the state’s economy by $16 billion over the next 20 years and deliver some 9,000 new jobs," he says.
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