At present, the dry cargo berth complex is operating at a high berth occupancy level of 94 per cent. The existing berths are catering to the vessels of up to 11.20 meter draughts. This has necessitated construction of a new infrastructure for berthing of big sized dry cargo vessels, the port trust said.
The commissioning of the 11th berth is a big leap forward for Kandla Port Trust as now the port would be able to handle Panamax vessels, port officials said.
The construction of marine civil works has been awarded to Navyuga Engineering Company, Visakhapatnam, in December, 2001, at the tendered cost of Rs 35.99 crore.
The length of the constructed berth will be 281 metres while the width of the berth will be 54.6 metres. The deck level of the berth will be 9.14 metres and the dredge level at the berth 14.6 metres, the officials said.
The berth will rest on 594 bored piles founded at 30 metres depth and will have the capacity to carry a superimposed load of five tonnes per square metre.
There will be a crane track at a width of 18 m provided for a Gantry crane with a lifting capacity of 53 tonnes and corner loading capacity of 336 tonnes.
The back up area of 24 hectares behind the newly constructed 11th berth is being filled up and compacted for the cargo storage of the cargo evacuated from the vessel, the officials said.
