Port of Tarragona Completes Placement of Caissons at Balears Wharf

The placement of the last of the 11 caissons marks the wharf’s mooring line. The construction is 40% complete and in keeping with the established deadlines.

The Balears Wharf takes shape with the placement of all the caissons. The “Mar  del Aneto” floating dock has completed its task in the Port of Tarragona. The  technicians have also completed the placement of the final caisson. The  construction of the new wharf is currently 40% complete and meeting the  established deadlines. 

The most complex part of the Balears Wharf construction project is coming to an  end. The manufacture and placement of the eleven caissons took approximately three months from day one to the end of July. “Everything has gone smoothly”, according to Carles Segura, the Port of Tarragona’s director of Infrastructures and Conservation. 

The final concrete foundation placement operation was completed yesterday  evening following the launch of the caisson last Wednesday near the Catalunya Wharf. 

Both the manufacturing and the placement processes were highly complex and  needed the cooperation of several different port services. Between 50 and 60 people worked in shifts twenty-four hours a day seven days a week on  manufacturing the caissons, which were built and placed at an approximate rate of  one per week. 

Caissons, the base of the Balears Wharf 

Each of the eleven caissons manufactured was 41.05 m long, 16.75 m wide and  21.30 m high. Empty they weighed 7,288.80 tons, while their weight when full is  calculated at 33,440.65 tones. More than three million kilos of steel was used to build the caissons. 

In the floating dock used to build the eleven caissons each operative and group of  workers had very well-defined areas and tasks, a coordination that allowed them  to successfully bring their part of the project in on time.  

Different port services were also involved in the launching and placement of the  caissons, mainly the tugs and the boatmen and mooring service. Both services were involved in the important, high precision tasks of extracting and launching the caissons from the “Mar del Aneto” floating dock and the subsequent movement  and placement in their definitive positions.  

The new Balears Wharf 

The new Balears Wharf will have a surface area of 4 hectares and some 700 linear  metres of moorings. It is destined for cruise ships and is expected to come into  operation in the middle of next year. It will allow several vessels to dock  simultaneously and will also be able to handle the largest cruise liners.