Five tunnels started operating at the Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG’s (HHLA) Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA). The tunnels are required for the maintenance of reefer containers and it creates an additional storage capacity, equivalent to a quarter of a storage block for CTA. The Hamburger Container- und Chassis-Reparatur-Gesellschaft (HCCR), a subsidiary of HHLA, has built the tunnels.
In order to work on refrigerated containers, reefer containers, HCCR employees have to access the storage blocks. Until now, routes had to be kept clear to allow employees access to the reefer containers within the storage blocks. Now an innovative construction allows the space previously required for access to be used for the storage of more containers. These container tunnels, built by HCCR, allow staff to access the reefer containers and additional containers can be stored on top of the tunnels. The tunnels have a total length of 776 meters. Two of the tunnels are as long as a storage block, while the other three are each just over half a storage block in length. Eighty-eight containers were rebuilt and reinforced in the process.
Oliver Dux, managing director of the Container Terminal Altenwerder, is happy with the additional storage capacity. “We need all available storage space, especially during busy times. With the additional capacity, we improved our position to cover peak-loading times, which is due to the increased number of large vessels that we service. We offer our customers a high level of productivity. Building the new construction while the terminal was in operation proved a major challenge for all those involved. Therefore, we are very glad that HCCR stayed within the allocated budget and handled all the requirements flexibly.”
The construction of the tunnels cost approximately € 1.5 million. One particular challenge was the presence of pipelines and supply lines below the surface of the tunnels. Therefore they had to be constructed in such a way that these lines can be accessed during operations.
Georg Böttner, managing director of HCCR states: “We proved, once again, our expertise in activities beyond our core business with the building of the tunnels. Compared to other similar projects in other ports, this solution wasn’t possible when the terminal was initially designed. The project involved designing and building a solution which can be completely dismantled, and which required many adaptations to local and operational conditions.”
