Unitterminal, Port of Køge, DK | 2018

The cutting-edge project for doubling the size of the port and constructing a new container terminal

The largest project with AMLoCor - the steel grade of the future!

Port of Køge, one of the largest ports in Denmark in terms of goods turnover, is located less than 50 km south of Copenhagen. The highway E47/E55 and rail tracks connection directly to the port area makes the location an excellent hub for further transportation.

Danish contractor Per Aarsleff A/S started working in 2007 in a partnership with Køge Jorddepot (Soil Depot), Port of Køge, the Municipality of Køge and the Danish engineering company Sweco (previously Carl Bro, and Grontmij). These four actors collaborated to develop a concept for the new port infrastructure, including a new Unitterminal. The expansion plans were to double the size of the port until 2017 by adding around 2 300 m of new berthing facilities.

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en English AMCRPS_CS-026_-Port-of-Koge_Denmark_web-2.pdf
Typical cross section quay
Unitterminal
Container Terminal
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The actual project involved the installation of around 1 200 running meters of steel sheet piles, in lengths ranging from 16.5 m up to 22.0 m, for a total of more than 3 900 t. Three different profiles were supplied in AMLoCor steel grade: AZ 26-700, AZ 38-700N and AZ 42-700N.

The sheet piles are supported during the first construction phase by battered H-beams, fixed to the sheet piles a few meters below the top. In a second phase, the contractor will backfill behind the sheet pile wall to elevation +2.0 m and later a new pavement up to level +3.0 m will be installed.

It is the first major project in Denmark where ArcelorMittal supplied steel sheet piles in AMLoCor, the new more corrosion resistant steel grade. From the design and installation point of view, the mechanical properties of AMLoCor sheet piles do not differ significantly from normal carbon steel grades used in construction, but special care towards welding procedures needed to be implemented. 

AMLoCor has the noteworthy advantage that the corrosion rate for the part below seawater level is 3 to 5 times smaller than corrosion rates observed on normal carbon steel. Above MWL (Mean Water Level) the corrosion rate is similar to normal carbon steel.

Compared to normal steel grades, AMLoCor was slightly more expensive at the time of purchase. However, since it requires no or less cathodic protection during a fifty-year lifetime or more, the overall total cost of the structure over its whole service life was apparently lower than alternative solutions.

The backfilling behind the sheet pile wall up to the level +2.0 m was completed by April 2018, and pavement up to +3.0 m followed shortly after.