DESIGN OF CONTAINER YARD AT PORT OF （在港口集装箱堆场的设计）.pdfVIP

DESIGN OF CONTAINER YARD AT PORT OF BALBOA Carlos E. Ospina, PhD, PE, MASCE; 1 Viswanath K. Kumar, PE, MASCE; 2 and 3 Jorge Puente, PE, MASCE 1Senior Project Engineer, BergerABAM, 2000 South Dairy Ashford Street, Suite 300, Houston, TX 77077; PH (281) 940-6420; email: carlos.ospina@ 2Vice President, BergerABAM, 33301 Ninth Avenue South, Suite 300, Federal Way, WA 98003; PH (206) 431-2335; email: vk.kumar@ 3Senior Project Manager, Panama Ports Company; Arnulfo Arias Madrid Avenue, Bldg 1501, Balboa, Panama; PH (507) 207-5241; email: puente.jorge@.pa ABSTRACT Committed to converting the Port of Balboa into a major transshipment hub, Panama Ports Company (PPC) launched in 2006 a $300-million expansion program to increase berthing and stacking space that would almost triple the port capacity. The site’s history of marine-related activities, deteriorating facilities, buried structures, and poor soils mandated significant investment in clearing and preparation. Of the 25-hectare container yard to be built, about 15 hectares were dredged to remove poor soils and reclaimed by filling/compacting with imported sand. Ground conditions in a 5-hectare area were also improved by a wick drain and surcharge program. Most container yards in North America are built with continuous asphalt or jointed portland cement concrete (JPCC) pavement. However, the Balboa yard features a discrete paving system for container stacking that is suited for rubber-tire gantry (RTG) crane operations. It consists of narrow reinforced concrete (RC) beams (serving as container bases) with a thin asphalt sealed crushed rock base around them. Support for the RTGs consists of continuous j