Embankment revetments at the JadeWeserPort

Situation

As part of the construction of Germany’s only deep-water port, which allows large container ships with a width of up to 16.5 m and a length of 430 m to call at the port regardless of the tide, 360 hectares of land were reclaimed by depositing 43 million m² of sand. The contract value of what was then Germany’s largest hydraulic engineering project for the Jade-WeserPort consortium, which was commissioned to construct the quay and dams, reclaim the site and carry out dredging work on the access channels and berths amounted to €480 million out of a total project cost of €950 million. Following completion in 2012, the Jade-WeserPort was expected to handle approximately 2.7 million TEU per year.

Solution

The site shoreline, which is approximately the size of 500 football pitches, was enclosed by two dams and a 1,750 m long quay structure. A sand mat was integrated into the revetment structure of the 1,800 m long northern dam and the 1,200 m long southern dam to act as a filter and separation layer. Beneath the revetment made of LMB 10/60 and CP 90/250 class hydraulic engineering blocks with colloidal grouting, the sand mat ensures filter stability and separates the grouted top layer from the backfill embankment made of loose material (0–200 mm). This layered system protects the backfilled sand body from erosion and upon completion, this area will serve as a terminal, logistics, industrial and commercial site. The multi-layered structure of the sand mat, comprising mechanically bonded filter geotextiles and a quartz sand insert, together with the resulting high grammage of the sand mat, ensures easy installation even below the water surface.