The Centerm terminal at the South Shore Burrard Inlet is key in the Port of Vancouver’s response to rising demand for containerized cargo at the port. As a main gateway for Canada's international trade, achieving optimum long-term capacity is essential to competitive and sustainable operations.
The recently completed Centerm expansion project increased terminal capacity from 900,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to approximately 1.5 million TEUs by reconfiguring the container yard, while increasing the terminal footprint by only 15 percent through land reclamation. The project was constructed under a design-build delivery.
Moffatt & Nichol, as a member of the project’s design-build team, completed on-terminal design for improvements, including the caissons, sheet pile wall, dyking, and reclamation areas for the terminal expansion, which extended existing berths and reclaimed land to increase container storage and terminal capacity. A previous Moffatt & Nichol planning concept study was leveraged for the design.
Major improvements included an upgrade to the rail intermodal yard by replacing the existing rubber-tired gantry (RTG) with a rail-mounted gantry (RMG), increasing the length of the remaining eight RTG lines from 600 to 1,100 meters, and relocating and installing new reefer towers and new gate systems. A complete overhaul of the electrical supply system to the terminal was carried out, shore power was added at a second main berth, and LED lighting and electric vehicle charging stations are being installed on-terminal, along with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building and Envision design aspects incorporated during construction and in the permanent facilities, resulting in a greener terminal to meet Port of Vancouver sustainability objectives.
