Kaohsuing Port Combi Wall, Taiwan
The unbeatable combination of ESC’s design and sourcing allowed the contractor to manufacture the 1470mm diameter, 15mm thickness tubes in 31 metre lengths (approx. 8000 tons) in Taiwan. Then, we sourced 28, 19 and 13 metre sheet piles from Nippon Steel in Japan (2,282 tons of IIIw in SY390) and finally the 109 tons of specially made IIIw sheet pile clutches that are unique to ESC.
Meng-Deng Construction Co. Ltd of Taiwan had a project for the Port expansion in Kaohsuing, Taiwan. The options they were given the by the normal large sheet pile providers were just not cost effective enough for the budget and design constraints that the Port had.
Therefore, ESC Pile Steel Trading (Shanghai) Co, Ltd looked at the best method for the contractor and the Kaohsuing Harbour Bureau, Ministry of Communications. After several discussions and design options ESC and Meng-Deng settled on the Tubular sheet pile combi wall.
The Existing structure was unable to take the larger size of the newer vessels as well as the required dredge depth for the larger vessels that were calling in Kaohsuing. The method approved was to install the main wall of the tube and sheet pile in front of the existing structure and then proceed with the removal of the old wall and installation of the rest of the system.
The unbeatable combination of ESC’s design and sourcing allowed the contractor to manufacture the 1470mm diameter, 15mm thickness tubes in 31 metre lengths (approx. 8000 tons) in Taiwan. Then, we sourced 28, 19 and 13 metre sheet piles from Nippon Steel in Japan (2,282 tons of IIIw in SY390) and finally the 109 tons of specially made IIIw sheet pile clutches that are unique to ESC.
Isometric detail of the main wall system.
Above you can see an isometric drawing of the wall profile showing the two IIIw infill sheet piles in between the 1470m tubes. This system in installed with the tubes or king piles first using a driving guide. Once the tubes are installed the guide is removed and the IIIw sheet piles installed between the spaces and slotted in using the special clutches attached to the tubular piles. Over the page, we can see the schematic drawing which allows for five tubular piles to be installed before the guide is removed. This guide is essential in the efficient installation of long marine sheet pile walls. Without it productivity is greatly reduced as well as straightness and aesthetics of the final wall. As you can well imagine if you get the tubular piles out of alignment then it will be nearly impossible to install the infill sheet piles.
Driving guide designed by ESC.
The sheet piles all arrived in the finished lengths from Japan. This meant no welding or joining was required so the site congestion was minimized and the quality of the material was mill production straightness allowing for less disruption and delays during the installation.
The clutch tolerances were made after the specific discussions with the contractor taking into consideration the length of the tubes and sheet piles and the design requirements for hot rolled clutches for combi wall systems.
The project saved considerable time and money for the contractor and was a very successful first tubular combi wall application in Taiwan.
With Ports globally getting deeper and deeper in order to handle the post Panamax Container vessels and other newer and larger conventional vessels in is expected that more and more clients and Port owner will look to these very solutions for their requirements.
ESC can supply both hot rolled solutions as it did here or cold rolled
Project Photos
