After just 60 days and 18 months of construction, the GSEZ Mineral port and New International Port of Owendo in Gabon, Africa, are fully operational and contributing to improve transport connections in the area.
Engineering and project management consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV’s client Olam International Ltd, together with GSEZ Ports partners the Republic of Gabon and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) started the development of new port facilities in Owendo, Libreville in 2014.
The new port facilities are located in the estuary of the Komo river and required a total investment of $500 million.
These ultra-modern facilities will support the diversification of the Gabonese economy and will improve the cost of living in the area by reducing transport costs.
Royal HaskoningDHV assisted GSEZ drafting the port masterplan, undertaking the feasibility design of the new mineral port and developing detailed specifications for the geotechnical surveys to be carried out.
The construction of the new commercial port was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure, the Mumbai based renowned construction company, another key client of Royal HaskoningDHV.
Satish Gaddam, Afcons’ design manager, said, “We have been working with Royal HaskoningDHV for the past decade and the Port of Owendo, which is dedicated to the traffic of containers and general cargo, is certainly one of our most ambitious and significant projects of our collaboration to date.”
The commercial port’s marine facilities include 6.5 hectares of marine loading and unloading, and stack yards for containers on a reinforced concrete deck. The onshore facilities include around 10 hectares of land for the storage of grain and palm oil, ancillary structures such as a boiler, a pump house and laboratories, as well as water supply tanks and networks including a storm drainage system.
The Royal HaskoningDHV design team, led by Kamesh Karra from the company’s Mumbai office, drew on expertise from the company’s offices and staff around the world. A range of disciplines were applied to the project, including marine and electrical engineering as well as water, infrastructure, and geotechnical expertise. The team also supported the project with a range of skills from project management and design through to health and safety advice and tender support.
Gaddam said, “This was a large-scale and high-value project, which makes the 16-months turnaround time very impressive. Most projects at this level involving such wide-ranging expertise and disciplines would take significantly longer to complete.”
Royal HaskoningDHV continues to support GSEZ Ports developing the port area.
