The first phase of the renewal of the Europa Terminal at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium, is underway. In order to continue to compete at the top level of world ports and offer customers additional container capacity and high-performance infrastructure, Port of Antwerp-Bruges and PSA Antwerp are investing in the upgrade of the quayside and automated yard of the Europa Terminal. The works consist of three major phases, with a third of the new quayside being upgraded each time, while the remainder remains operational.
The quayside and terminal upgrade, which will take about ten years, will ensure that the latest generation of container ships can continue to call at Antwerp. Preparatory work and tests have been completed allowing the first phase of the extensive works to commence.
A new barge quay has been constructed to keep offering the same level of service during the extensive works and to continue to encourage the modal shift. This provides temporary additional mooring space for inland navigation.
In this phase, the temporary partnership of four contractors – Artes-Roegiers, Artes-Depret, Herbosch-Kiere and Boskalis – will be demolishing the existing quayside, installing temporary structures for further implementation and starting construction of the first section of the 1,200 m long new quayside, which will boast a 16 m draught.
Construction of the new 150 m quay was completed in April and after extensive testing, it is now ready to handle barges until the end of the works. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges will be in charge of the operationality of the quay during the works.
Cameron Thorpe, CEO PSA Belgium, says: ‘It is essential that we maintain a high level of operational delivery to our customers during the investments to upgrade the Europa Terminal. We are convinced that in cooperation with the port and our customers, this temporary quay will ensure that we can continue to serve the barges calling at PSA Antwerp.’
