Jan De Nul: Expanding the Latin American Port of Montevideo

In recent years, bigger and bigger vessels have been navigating through the seas and oceans. But the bigger the vessels, the fewer can moor at a quay.

That is why in 2021, the government of Uruguay, together with Katoen Natie, decided to further expand the container terminal Cuenca del Plata.

To accommodate larger and more container vessels at the same time, four to be precise, Jan De Nul has been hired to construct a new 730-metre long quay wall and expand the terminal itself by reclaiming 22 hectares of land for the second container yard.

JDN mobilized several vessels for this purpose. Firstly, the backhoe dredger Postnik Yakovlev to remove the soft material at the site of the new container terminal.

Next, the trailing suction hopper dredger Ortelius took over the dredging job until it reaches the rocky underground.

On the other hand, trailing suction hopper dredgers Ortelius and Galileo Galilei are bringing in sand to reclaim new land for this container yard via a floating line and a spray pontoon.

Also, the cutter suction dredger Willem van Rubroeck is dredging the ocean bed in front of the new quay wall which turns out to be bone hard.

In addition to the Willem van Rubroeck dredging and making its way through the rock-hard subsoil, JDN is drilling and blasting in other rock areas, in which explosives shatter the seabed, and the blasted rock is later removed by means of another dredger.

Discover how Jan De Nul is building the brand-new quay wall and container yard in Montevideo, Uruguay.