Hamburger Hafen und Logistik : Container Terminal Altenwerder Further Increases Efficient Use of Space

A total of five tunnels have gone into operation at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG's (HHLA) Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), which are required to maintain reefer containers. This is giving the CTA additional storage capacity equivalent to a quarter of a storage block. The tunnels were built by Hamburger
Container- und Chassis-Reparatur-Gesellschaft mbH (HCCR), a subsidiary of HHLA.

In order to be able to carry out work on reefer containers, the employees responsible for maintenance at HCCR need to be able to access the storage blocks. Until now, roadways had to be kept clear to allow employees access to the reefer containers within the storage blocks. The innovative construction now also allows the space required for the roadways to be used for the storage of containers. Instead of using the roadways, the container tunnels built by HCCR allow staff to access the reefer containers on foot. Additional containers can be stored on top of the tunnels. Tunnels with a total length of 776 metres have been built. Two of the tunnels stretch as far as the total length of a storage block, while the other three are just over half a storage block in length each. Eighty-eight containers were rebuilt and reinforced in the process.

Oliver Dux, Managing Director of the Container Terminal Altenwerder, is delighted with the additional storage capacity: 'We need all available storage space, especially during peak loading times. With the additional capacity, we are in an even better position to be able to cover these peak loading times, which arise from the increasing number of large vessels, and offer our customers a high level of productivity. Realising the construction measures while the terminal was in operation proved a major challenge for all those involved. It is therefore even more pleasing that HCCR stayed within the allocated budget and reacted flexibly to all the requirements.'

The construction work came to a total of approximately € 1.5 million. One particular challenge was that there are also pipelines and supply lines underneath the roadways where the tunnels were installed. The tunnels therefore had to be constructed in such a way as to ensure that these tracks and supply lines could also be accessed during operations.

Dr. Georg Böttner, Managing Director of HCCR: 'With the building of the tunnels at the CTA, we have once again proved our expertise in activities beyond our core business. In contrast with comparable projects in other ports, the tunnel solution at the CTA could not be considered when the terminal was initially designed. The project involved designing and building tunnels which could be completely dismantled, and which in turn included a lot of adapting to local and operational conditions.'

Photo are available for download here.