Port of Huelva: a contemporary upgrade for a historic port with ArcelorMittal sheet pile solutions

Detailed information

A historic port adapted to modern requirements

The Port of Huelva is located in the southwest on the Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula. The area was visited by seafaring Phoenicians from 1250 BC, and by Roman times it was one of Europe’s main gateways for maritime trade. The Port of Huelva maintains this legacy by acting as a major hub of the European trade network linking to the African and American continents.

With the need to cater to growing demands while keeping the port’s high quality of service, the Port Authority of Huelva decided to welcome the future with the extension of its south quay for increased container handling capacity.                                  

In September 2016, the Port of Huelva awarded the design project to INCREA. An environmental impact assessment followed, with approval in December 2016. The final design and tender specifications by INCREA were completed in May 2018. Steel sheet piles (SSP) were the solution of choice on the basis of quality assurance and project-specific environmental considerations. By May 2019, the project tender had been awarded to Ferrovial as the main contractor and was well under way.

HZ®-M combi wall tied to a rear anchor wall: an efficient solution to surmount geological challenges

The South Quay extension project consists of a 525-metre quay with a tapered end wall. The quay is designed for 23.5 m maximum retention with mean tidal variation of 4 m.

Due to significant variations in stratigraphy along the wall’s alignment, two main design sections and a tapered wing wall were created to optimise the project. The sections follow a typical configuration with a front HZ®-M combi wall tied to a rear anchor wall. Main section 1 extends 237 metres through a zone of soft materials corresponding to a Quaternary fluvial paleochannel bed. The pile toe required penetration in the underlying dense to very dense and partially cemented Tertiary silty sands.
 
This demanded a 33 m long double section HZ 1180M D-26 combined with 30 m long AZ 26 intermediary piles and ASDO Ø145/155 tie bars (the world’s largest at the time) from Anker Schroeder. The high anchor loads required a custom connection design for adequate transfer into the piles. This design benefited from the close collaboration between INCREA and the ArcelorMittal and ASDO engineering design teams.

Main section 2, extending 287 m, was characterised by the presence of a layer of Quaternary gravels and sands underlain by the same Tertiary material of the previous section at a shallower depth. The comparatively better soil characteristics allowed for a lighter system combi wall solution comprised of 29 m long single section HZ 1180M D-14 with 23 m long AZ 28-700 intermediary piles.

AZ 40-700N and AZ 28-700 profiles were used for the anchor walls in lengths of 11.15 and 9.15 m. The distance to the front wall varies slighlty, in the range of 31 to 32 m, with anchors connected at every main HZ®-M pile.

For the installation of tie rods 1 m below low tide, temporary steel sheet piles were installed in a temporary berm in front of the main wall to enable dewatering.

Simple and speedy installation with successful progress despite the pandemic

Tecnoterra, a sheet piling contractor, installed the sheet piles. Driving of the main HZ-M piles was done with initial positioning via an MS120 vibro hammer and final drive via a BSP CG240 hydraulic impact hammer with 16 t drop weight delivering 235 kNm of energy per blow with a blow rate of 26/min.

Hard driving conditions in section 2 were little challenge with the equipment and experience of Tecnoterra, who managed a speedy installation without employing additional hard driving measures. Intermediary and anchor wall piles were driven with the MS120 and an MS32 vibro hammers respectively.

An innovative hydraulic levelling guide frame was designed and patented by Ferrovial specifically for this project. Impressive installation productivity rates of seven double HZ-M piles per day and 12 single HZ-M piles per day were achieved.

It should be noted that this project progressed successfully and safely under the shroud of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The inherent installation simplicity of the ArcelorMittal solution and the ASDO anchoring system were major contributors to making social distancing easily manageable onsite. Moreover, trust and cooperation between the Port of Huelva, Ferrovial, and all other stakeholders were at the root of this victory against the difficulties of the times.

The new quay became operational in 2022.

Product details

Main Quay

• HZ 1180M, D-26 (S 430 GP, 33m)         3229 t
• AZ 26 (S 355 GP 30m)                           596 t
• HZ 1180M D-14 (S 430 GP 29m)           2177 t
• AZ 28-700 (S 355 GP 23m)                    790 t
• HZ 1180M D-12 (S 430 GP 28.4-9.1m)    238 t
• AZ 28-700 (S 355 GP 23-3.7 m)               77 t

Anchor Walls

• AZ 40-700N (S 355 GP 11.15m)             494 t
• AZ 28-700 (S 355 GP 11.15 m)              528 t
• AZ 28-700 (S 355 GP 9.15 m)                 54 t

Total: 8186 t

Tie Bars

• ASDO Ø145/M 155 (ASDO 500 32m)        623 t
• ASDO Ø110/M 120 (ASDO 500 31-32m)   554 t

Total: 1177 t