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Settlement of the shallow foundations made a new foundation necessary
Due to its strategic location on the German-Dutch border, the Emmerich container terminal is an important interface for international goods and freight logistics and serves as a trimodal hub for road, rail and inland waterway transport along the Rhine.
Increasing settlement at the shallow foundations of the landside crane runway had led to considerable wear on the two gantry cranes. As the existing crane systems had also reached the end of their service life, they were replaced by modern gantry crane systems. The new crane runway was deep-founded over a length of 258 metres with 44 Frankipile NG® piles, which have a diameter of 71 centimetres and a length of around 16 metres.
Working in close proximity to water and while the port remained in operation
The subsoil consisted of fillings with thicknesses between 5 and 7.5 metres, which were underlain by floodplain loams and terrace sediments of sands and gravels down to the settling horizon of the pile foundation. The location on the waterfront, a working width of only 8 metres and the close proximity to the existing gantry crane, which remained in operation throughout the entire construction work, required special precautions. A lookout was present for the duration of the pile fabrication to avoid collisions. The nearby Rhine and the groundwater could not be contaminated. Hazardous substances were therefore stored in closed containers and additionally in trays. When refuelling the equipment, a drip tray was used to collect any possible drips.
