Rotterdam hes hartel tank terminal | Highly automated formwork concept for construction tank terminal

Commissioned by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the contracting combination Van Hattum en Blankevoort/Boskalis/Mobilis, Construx is responsible for the design and production of the formwork, for the construction of a total of 2,300 meters of quay wall of the Hes Hartel Tank Terminal. Besides a deepwater quay wall with a length of 1,200 meters and a connection to the existing quay of the Mississippi Harbor, this highly automated formwork concept over a length of 1,100 meters will also be used to realize the quay wall for the inland port.

The work is performed by Construx with 3 complete sets of steel formwork driven over the rebar by means of a hydraulically driven gantry crane with remote control. This system was developed by Construx and is now used in the construction of a quay wall. For the deep sea quay, two formwork sets are applied alternately, 1 set for the even moot numbers and 1 for the odd moot numbers. With a length of 23.5 meters per set, 53 pouring stages are required for the quay wall. Each pour involves 1,000 cubic meters of concrete, for which 100 mixers provide a day's supply.

The outer quay is an L-shaped structure, with a wall height of 7 meters on the sea side, a foot of 19.5 meters wide and a thickness of 2.1 to 2.8 meters. The 13-meter-high gantry crane travels on a track over 22 meters wide. This system allows a set of formwork weighing about 100 tons to be moved, adjusted, picked up and hydraulically opened and closed. All-steel integrated work platforms with access steps, backrests and lighting provide a safe working environment.

A third formwork set is used in the construction of the quay wall of the U-shaped inner harbor. This formwork has a length of over 29 meters, requiring a total of 37 pouring stages. As with the deep-sea quay, this formwork set is also applied alternately. However, the quay wall is not L-shaped, but has a wall height of 7 meters on the sea side and 2.3 meters on the land side. The gantry crane with a height of 15.23 meters drives over a track of over 8 meters wide.

Lead producer

Construx is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of formwork systems and molds for concrete products and is a pioneer in the concrete industry. "Together with customers, boundaries are constantly being pushed back in discovering new processes, technologies and implementation methods," says Herry van Houten, director of the Dutch branch in Veenendaal. "Ingenious molds are becoming more and more complex and automated machines with an ever-increasing focus on safety and ergonomics. We can, will and dare to design and produce things that have never been made or produced by anyone else."