The Port of Long Beach Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project is an ongoing, $1.49 billion project to combine two aging terminals into one advanced, green container terminal. When complete, the new terminal’s annual capacity will be more than 3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). Its electric-powered cargo-handling equipment, places it among the world’s cleanest container terminals.
Moffatt & Nichol provided program management services for the project’s planning and design, including operational master planning, facilities planning, dredging design for approximately five million cubic yards of fill to create 55 acres of new land,structures design, building concepts, and permitting assistance. The new, 325-acre terminal was constructed on the site of two existing, smaller terminals separated by a water basin. To reclaim the land, the water area was excavated and filled with dredged material from terminal construction, material borrowed from the port’s outer harbor area, and other sources, allowing the two separate terminals to be combined into the single larger terminal for development. Moffatt & Nichol designed the wharf structure, the container yard structures, and the automated stacking crane foundations as well as provided assistance with the container terminal and intermodal yard equipment selections. During master planning for the container terminal and intermodal yard layout, initial simulation studies using Moffatt & Nichol’s FlexTerm software compared various quay crane configurations to determine their relative productivities, and then related the simulated results to real world expectations.In addition, FlexTerm was used to simulate an automated stacking crane operation, rail yard operations including switching simulation, and landside transfer area and site traffic system simulations. The model allowed planners to evaluate alternative layout options, resultant costs, and apply the study results as input for the next stage in the development process. As terminal design progressed, Moffatt & Nichol used FlexTerm to assist the terminal operator to develop equipment and terminal operations system specifications. Moffatt & Nichol’s operational engineering team continues to support the Long Beach Container Terminal team as they coordinate with the Port of Long Beach and manage the project’s realization efforts. The redevelopment is being completed in phases in order to allow operations to continue during development. Construction began in 2010, and the first phase was completed in 2015. The project has received many accolades, including the 2015 ASCE Region 9 Outstanding Construction Project Award for the project’s first phase.
