ICTSI, Rehabilitation and Life Extension of the Manila International Container Terminal Wharves
Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) is owned by International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) (Freyssinet, 2021). Berths 1 to 4 are a 900 metre long, 20 metre wide reinforced concrete deck on piles, built in the 1980s. Berth 5, built in 1995, is a 400 metre long steel sheet pile quay wall (Freyssinet, 2021).
The structures showed significant deterioration due to corrosion (Freyssinet, 2021), with significant degradation of the suspended concrete deck and piles (Sixense, n.d.). Rather than replace the berths, ICTSI commissioned a major rehabilitation and life extension of the wharves while the terminal kept operating (Freyssinet, 2021).
Approach
Record every defect first. Before repairs began, a visual condition survey individually recorded about 4,000 defects using mobile applications. The defect data was managed on a digital platform that generated automated reports and tracked each repair through an approval process involving the consultant and the client (Sixense, n.d.).
Repair the existing concrete. Works included epoxy resin crack injection, 163 square meters of concrete patch repairs, and 763 cubic meters of concrete encapsulation using dry shotcrete and microconcrete (Freyssinet, 2021).
Protect against future corrosion. About 18,000 sacrificial anodes were installed for cathodic protection, and 30,000 square meters of concrete was treated with a hydrophobic silane coating (Freyssinet, 2021).
Restore the structural systems. 144 post-tensioning cables were investigated, protected or replaced (Freyssinet, 2021).
Repair the steel quay wall and fittings. A partner contractor restored the coating of the steel sheet pile wall, installed cathodic protection through diving works, repaired underwater piles, and replaced fenders and bollards (Freyssinet, 2021).
Keep the terminal operating. The works were carried out while terminal operations continued, within tidal access limits (Freyssinet, n.d.).
Results
The repair works ran from May 2019 to October 2020 (Freyssinet, 2021), and the berths stayed in service as one of the region's major container terminals (Freyssinet, n.d.). The sources do not report the cost, the added design life, or materials saved compared with building new berths.
Transferability
DMC ports with ageing concrete or steel wharves can treat them as assets to restore, not replace.
The sequence at MICT can be followed at any scale: record every defect digitally, repair damaged concrete, add cathodic protection and protective coatings to slow future corrosion, and keep the berth working during the works.
Restoring an existing wharf avoids most of the concrete and steel a new one would need. Ports should record condition before and after the works, so the life extension can be tracked and the next intervention planned.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.