Port of Szczecin ready for larger ships. This is the final stage of the reconstruction of the Dębicki Canal

One of the largest hydrotechnical investment projects in the Port of Szczecin is coming to an end. The final stage of work is underway on the reconstruction of the Dębicki Canal and the reconstruction and construction of new quays, which will open up completely new transshipment and logistics possibilities for the port.

The project of rebuilding the Dębicki Canal in the Port of Szczecin is entering its final phase. The investment project, which significantly changes the port’s capabilities, included widening and deepening the channel and modernising key coastal infrastructure. Thanks to the work carried out, ships with a much larger draft and load capacity will be able to call at Szczecin.

As part of the investment project, the Dębicki Channel was widened from 120 to 200 m and deepened to a technical depth of -12.5 m. At the same time, the two most important general cargo quays – the Czech and Slovak Quays – were rebuilt over a length of over a kilometre, and a new 300 m long Norwegian Quay was built, which is a continuation of the Finnish Quay and serves as a container terminal. Additionally, Stage I of the Danish Quay was completed over a length of 780 m and the bottom was reinforced at the Cooperative and Finnish Quays.

The modernization of the fairway will enable the mooring of vessels with a draft of up to 11 meters, which means a significant increase in the port’s transshipment potential.

For the reconstruction of the Czech and Slovak Quays, over 20 km of steel pipes, 15 km of steel sheet piles, almost 17 km of micropile anchors were installed and over 12,000 m3 of concrete were poured.

These are the most intensively used general cargo quays in the Port of Szczecin. Thanks to the modernization, their parameters will be adapted to handle the largest units that will be able to enter the port.

The challenges that emerged during the implementation of the investment project were successfully overcome thanks to the cooperation of qualified implementation teams.

– The biggest challenge was the reconstruction of the Czech and Slovak Quays, where during the work we came across uninventoried objects. An additional difficulty was the fact that the reconstruction took place in an active port, so the work had to be carried out to the highest standard under constant health and safety supervision. We managed to solve all difficulties and problems on an ongoing basis thanks to our qualified staff, investor supervision team and constant contact with the author’s supervision, and the effect of our cooperation is bringing the investment project to the final stage – says Irena Filipek, Hydrotechnical Works Manager and Deputy Construction Manager from the NDI Group.

An important element of the work was also the construction of a spoil disposal site on Ostrów Mieleński Island.

– An embankment over 4.7 km long was built on an area of almost 50 ha. A pontoon bridge was built over the Duńczyca River, which enabled communication and transport of sand from the dredging works, previously drained in the spoil disposal yards in Ostrów Grabowski, which was used to build the embankment – adds Irena Filipek.

After the construction of the spoil disposal site was completed, a 3.5 km long section of a 500 mm diameter pipeline was laid, which was connected directly to the suction-reclaiming dredger operating in the Dębicki Canal, which enabled its widening and deepening.

As part of the dredging works, over 1.5 million m3 of spoil was extracted – an amount that could fill the Pogoń Szczecin stadium four times over.

Completion of all works is planned for the end of April. This is one of the key projects in the development of the ports in Szczecin and Świnoujście, which will significantly increase their operational capabilities. The investor for this project is the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority, and the General Contractor is a consortium of companies from the NDI Group.