Swedish and U.S. steel company SSAB has supplied steel piles for a combi wall retaining structure that is being used to support a new 1,220 metre (4,000 foot) wharf at the Port of Gdańsk in northern Poland.
The wharf, which will be operational by 2020, is part of an ambitious expansion plan that will see the port construct a new quay to service container ships with a length of up to 250 meters (820 feet).
The project also involves dredging and deepening an existing channel to 11.5 metres (38 feet).
Tomasz Rybarczyk, Group Sites Manager for subcontractor, Keller Polska Sp. z o.o., which is undertaking soil improvement works and building the combi wall, says:
"We chose steel piles from SSAB for one main reason: their quality.
"They are crucial for the future stability of the quay.
The high quality of the components translates directly to a safer work environment.
An important feature is that they are delivered with interlocks."
Bartosz Michalski, a construction manager with general contractor for the project, Budimex, adds:
"We decided on steel piles from SSAB and sheet piles from another supplier which is an unusual solution.
"All 437 piles were shipped from SSAB’s Oulainen Works in Finland directly to the wharf in six tranches, which made it easier for us to follow the building schedule."
Press spokesperson for the Port of Gdańsk also adds:
"We are the fourth largest port on the Baltic Sea with 49.1 million tonnes of cargo in 2018 and have climbed two places in only two years.
"With the new wharf and additional planned investments, our aim is to claim the top spot."
