The “Port 2000” project, the extension and modernisation of France’s largest container port at Le Havre, had to take into account the development of maritime traffic and the increasing size of container ships.
The project’s first two phases included the creation of 10 berths along a 3,500-metre quay and the associated areas on land, all sheltered by a new 3.5 kilometre-long sea wall. Ships with a draft (the submerged part of the hull) of 14.5 metres had to be able to berth at these quays at any tide level.
© Patrice Lefebvre
One of the deepest quays in the world
The quay’s construction involved creating a diaphragm concrete wall 1.2 to 1.5 metre thick and over 40 metres deep. Pumping out the water in the land in front and behind this wall enabled the earth moving and the finishing of the quay to be done in dry conditions. The diaphragm wall was capped with a beam on which to fix the mooring equipment. The front of the wall was cleared to a height of 25 to 28 metres, in order to fix tie rods hooked to a corrugated steel wall called a sheet pile wall. These steel bars were placed at a depth of 17 metres after moving the earth. The excavated area behind the quay was then filled in and the water pumping stopped. The basin created in front of the quay was then dredged to the depth necessary for ships to berth
A wall in the ground
The quay’s construction involved creating a diaphragm concrete wall 1.2 to 1.5 metre thick and over 40 metres deep.
Pumping out the water in the land in front and behind this wall enabled the earth moving and the finishing of the quay to be done in dry conditions.
The diaphragm wall was capped with a beam on which to fix the mooring equipment.
The front of the wall was cleared to a height of 25 to 28 metres, in order to fix tie rods hooked to a corrugated steel wall called a sheet pile wall.
These steel bars were placed at a depth of 17 metres after moving the earth.
The excavated area behind the quay was then filled in and the water pumping stopped.
The basin created in front of the quay was then dredged to the depth necessary for ships to berth.
Setting up a reinforcement cage of a molded wall panel
© Patrice Lefebvre