Construction of the Logistics Platform in port area between the Lumber Yard and the former Italsider area and related connecting works

Client: Port Authority of Trieste
Period of implementation: 2010 – 2015
Total value of works: I° Stralcio Euro 113.933.150,40
                                             II°Stralcio Euro 162.147.472,59
Value of our services: Euro 1.500.000,00

The project for the construction of the Logistics Platform involves the construction of quays in the space included between the Lumber Yard and the Servola metalworks for a total area of about 245,000 m2 of which about 140,000 m2 currently occupied by bodies of water. The aim of the project is to extend the existing operational areas serving the port, with the transfer of the activities from the Porto Vecchio to the new centre which should drastically reduce the heavy traffic coming from the major Trieste roadway system through the Passaggio di S. Andrea and along the city waterfronts.

The construction of the logistic centre will allow the acquisition of a new wharf equipped for RO-RO ships, the creation of new landings for cargo and containers, the possibility of using the dry port areas for port operations and/or mooring and handling of containers and as a cargo depot. The terminals created will also be connected to the major roadway system, thus favouring loading and unloading operations and easy transport by road and above all by rail.

The areas involved by the measures and seafront areas, besides being part of the publicly owned land for maritime purposes, is also part of the polluted area of national interest in Trieste, set up by Decree of the Ministry for the Environment and the Protection of the Territory no. 639/RIBO/M/DI/B of 24.02.03.

The project solutions adopted during the drafting of the final design anticipate the implementation of the Programme Agreement for the site of national interest in Trieste, by:

  • construction of a waterproof barrier to contain the groundwater, with pumping and treatment of the drained water (groundwater on-shore reclamation);
  • reclamation of polluted portions of land by the removal, profiling and disposal in a tip or a suitable treatment plant of the hot-spots and waste, in compliance with the results of the Risk Analysis, after classification for assignment of the EWC code (on-shore land reclamation);
  • checking the environmental quality of the land remaining at the site of the reclamation excavations by the taking and analysis soil samples from the bottom and the walls of the excavation  (on-shore land reclamation);
  • reclamation of the marine area by dredging polluted sediment according to the indications of the Ministry for the Environment (off-shore reclamation).

The final design, characterized by a complex approval procedure according to the procedures for Strategic Works and then with funding and approval procedure by the CIPE (CIPE Resolutions no. 99/2004, no. 148/2005, 75/2006, 57/2012), provides for the alteration of the existing coastline by the construction of a platform on the seabed with a suspended quay based on piles and slabs. The work has a total docking length of approximately 1,130 m, distributed over the 1st Portion (482 m) and the 2nd Portion (746 m). Specifically, the seafront located in the:

  •     1st Portion, 482 m long, to be occupied by stagings on piles, a suspended quay on prefabricated slabs and closed cellular caissons, some to be newly built and other existing ones to be refitted;
  •     2nd Portion, 746 m long, to be occupied by stagings on piles, and behind them the waterproofed delimitation of the depositing site will be placed.

The project of the Logistics Platform, as a whole, will require the use of large diameter piles and prefabricated prestressed reinforced concrete slabs.
The main characteristics of the Logistics Platform, 1st Portion are as follows:

  • Total area of intervention: approx. 122,700 m2 (12.27 ha);
  • Length of quays: approx. 480 m;
  • Area of open spaces: 114,900 m2;
  • Area of suspended quay (to be built on piles and slabs): 65,200 m2;
  • Volume of sludge to be placed under the suspended quay: 480,000 m3;
  • Seafront altitude between 10 and 13 m above sea mean level;
  • Quay altitude 2.60 m above sea mean level.

The main numerical data for the 2nd Portion works are as follows:

  • Total area of intervention: approx. 120,600 m2 (12.06 ha);
  • Length of quays: approx. 746 m;
  • Area of open spaces: 120,600 m2;
  • Area of suspended quay (to be built on piles and slabs): 77,040 m2;
  • Volume of sludge to be placed under the suspended quay: 580,000 m3;
  • Seafront altitude between 10 and 14 m above sea mean level;
  • Quay altitude 2.60 m above sea mean level.

The design solution adopted during the drafting of the final design of the 1st and 2nd Portions has the advantage of guaranteeing fast and certain timing with regard to the execution and the possibility of using the lower part as an environmental depositing site, where under para. 996 of Law 296/06 sludge dredged in connection with the construction of the Logistics Platform, as well as future dredged materials from other port areas can be placed, in compliance with the classification limitations of the sediment as “non-dangerous waste”.