USA: Port of Redwood City’s Modernized Wharf Opens

Officials in Redwood City this week snipped a thick, red ribbon signifying the completion of the Port of Redwood City’s $17 million modernized wharf. It is the first new wharf for cargo ships in the San Francisco Bay Area that meets the latest operational, seismic, and sea level design standards for the wharf structure itself and adjacent shoreline.

The modernized wharf replaced a 60-year old World War II era wooden wharf with a new bulk handling concrete wharf that was designed to meet the present demands for operational and seismic conditions as well as climate change issues.

The wharf will be used to dock dry bulk ships of a size known as “Panamax,” the largest ships currently able to pass through the Panama Canal. From the deck of the new wharf, mobile cranes and large hoppers will be able to load/unload ships. Thirty-foot wide concrete ramps connect the wharf to the shore.

Construction began in September 2012 with the demolition of the old wooden Wharves 1 & 2 and the adjacent warehouse. A 950-foot long seawall designed to meet storm surges and predicted seal level rise has been built along the shore of the Port adjacent to the modernized wharf.

The new concrete wharf is located on the northern end of the Redwood Harbor Ship Channel and is situated between a Cemex cement marine terminal and a Sims Metals scrap iron terminal. The new portion of the wharves is approximately 430-ft long and 60-ft wide with two access ramps located at the north and south edges of the wharf. The remainder of the 900-foot long wharf reuses the existing monopile dolphins and connects them with new aluminum walkways.

A new seawall extends along the entire project for a total length of 950-ft. The wall consists of steel sheet with a top finished elevation of +13 ft MLLW. An allowance for an extension of 1-ft in height is constructed to bring the eventual height of wall to an elevation +14 ft MLLW.

The existing shoreline protection is augmented with new 12-in rip rap rock to prevent potential erosion and scour. The wharf has been sized to accommodate a new conveyor system with the hopper located at the shoreside portion of the new wharf.

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Press Release, April 25, 2014