Port Saint John West Side Modernization Project |

Case Study

Port Saint John West Side Modernization Project

Overview

PSJ has embarked on a CA$205M project to consolidate and modernize the Rodney and Navy Island terminals to accommodate Neo-Panamax container vessels. The project includes the construction of a new 400 m long wharf, dredging the berth pocket and main navigation channel, and landside improvements to the container terminal.

PSJ Neap Tide

Project Highlights

Baird was responsible for the coastal and marine engineering tasks required to support project design. Baird’s key tasks included the development of a metocean database, numerical modelling of complex tidal and river flows within Saint John Harbour, vessel transit simulations and moored ship response modelling. The outcomes from these tasks were used to develop the design channel depth and width and the design mooring loads.

Project Challenges:

Complex hydrodynamics due to the interaction of Bay of Fundy tides and Saint John River discharge
Significant increase in the size of the design vessel relative to present vessels calling at PSJ, and spatial constraints in the Inner Harbour
Uncertainty regarding additional channel depth necessary to provide sufficient tidal windows for Neo-Panamax vessel transits
Uncertainty regarding the need for channel widening to safely accommodate Neo-Panamax vessels

Project Solutions:

Development of a high-resolution, 3-D FVCOM hydrodynamic model of Saint John Harbour
Completion of navigation simulations at the Maritime Simulation and Resource Centre (MSRC) to assess arrival, turning and departure of Neo-Panamax vessels
Numerical model simulations of vessel transits to define downtime associated with different channel dredge depths and vessel under-keel clearances, including sensitivity tests for vessel speed and metocean conditions
Review of PIANC (2014) channel design guidelines and MSRC navigation simulations to assess channel width and tug support requirements

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