Deltaport Berth 3

Graham in a joint venture with Vancouver Pile Driving, as Deltaport Constructors Ltd., successfully completed the addition of a third berth to Canada’s biggest and busiest container ship terminal in June 2009, three months ahead of schedule. The project consisted of a new 430 metre concrete caisson supported wharf and a 22 hectare fill area for an expanded container storage yard, deepening the existing shipping channel, disposing of dredged material, installing armor protection rock, constructing a new fish habitat and a new tug moorage basin for vessels stationed at Deltaport. The new third berth opened to service ships in fall 2009.

As a condition of the governing Fisheries Act Authorization, all material was required to be delivered to site via water. Over 2.2 million tonnes of aggregate, produced at four different local quarries, was barged to the site. In addition, over 1.1 million cubic metres of dredged river sand was transported for the project by a trailing section hopper dredge, where it was stored in an underwater transfer pit before pumping upland using a cutter suction dredge. At its peak, the addition of the third berth will increase Deltaport’s capacity by up to 50%, from 1.2 million 20’ equivalent units (TEUs) to 1.8 million (TEUs) a year.