«WHALEBRIDGE» - RECONSTRUCTION OF PORT IN BEIRUT

Project idea

The whole idea of the design concept is based on the fundamental division of the territory into three zones: the “old port”, the cargo port and the container terminal. Zoning is based on identifying the origin of the territory inherent in port cities, when the port grew from the historical center, expanding its theory through the formation of new functional clusters oriented towards a promising line. Two main infrastructures were created based on this functional separation:
- cargo (consist of roads and railways), for the cargo and container area of the port;
- pedestrian zone in the observation area of the "old port".

Project description

The territory of the "old port" is a public complex (with a total area of 30 hectares), where located the building of the passenger terminal, the building of the public center and the lighthouse, which are inscribed in the complex of promenade pedestrian terraces. Its general architectural concept was based on the idea that the port is not only ‘the gate to the city’, but also ‘the city’s gate to the sea’.
In this way was born the idea of the Civic Center arch bridge, which connects the historical center with the port and will be the site for an installation that reflects the national symbol of Lebanon – the Cedar tree which is represented on the flag. Since any port is located on the bordering surface of the sea and land, the structure of the Passenger Terminal must be considered from two directions: from the side of the sea area and from the side of the urban environment.
Also, in this project was decided to remove the ruins of the silos, because its structure is in disrepair and could collapse at any moment, and then create a museum dedicated to the disaster and the grain silos, which not only protected the western part of the city from the blast, but were also an architectural monument.
The cargo port’s area (with a total area of 40 hectares) starts from a modern silo building behind the museum. Further down is located the warehouse system, which includes 4 general cargo warehouses, 3 group work warehouses, 3 general purpose warehouses, 2 open warehouses for vehicles and heavy-duty engines and 1 warehouse for dangerous cargos. There is the Duty Free Market behind them with modular stores for companies present in the port and three local production facilities for the needs of the port. Also, 11 oil vertical steel tanks were designed, each with a volume of 30,000 m3.
The port ends with a container zone (total area of 50 ha), where technology for handling containers created by the DP World group company is one of the fundamental aspects. Instead of stacking containers directly on top of each other, the system places each container in a separate compartment, so you can access each container without moving another. Two objects were designed based on such technology: a free logistics zone and a container terminal itself.
The Free Logistics Zone is a complex of three small container terminals (56x93 m each) acting as warehouses with public and retail space on the upper level. Thanks to that, companies, which are operating in the port, can communicate with customers directly.
The container terminal includes 4 blocks for filled containers (150 x285 m each), and 1 block for empty containers (755x90 m). The previously existing container terminal had a capacity of 1,200,000 TEU/year. Accordingly, the task was not only to restore the figures of cargo turnover, but also to foresee the prospect for increasing the figures. For this, a second berth is formed for unloading ships 235 m from the main coastline.The last zone is "Marine campus" – a small residential complex located in the east of the port. The container terminal is located on the left side of the complex and the mouth of the Beirut River is located on the right.
The complex consists of 7 hostel blocks represented by two standard cells 30x30 m (5 blocks) and 30x71.4 m (2 blocks). It is intended for rest of crews, arriving cargo and liner ships, as well as for port personnel serving cargo and container ports. Also, there was organized a landscape for comfort and complex’s separation from the industrial zone.
Finally, in this project cargo containers are used for three purposes: cargo containers, containers that form a public space, and containers as a residential unit.

Technical information

The technology of an automated terminal is based on the usage of several types of transport crane systems:
- a cargo portal "crane-bridge", with a maximum height of 70 m (based on the height of ships and tides), provides direct delivery of containers from the ship to the underground level of the container terminal.
- shuttle carriers allow containers to be distributed to the appropriate destinations at the underground level of the terminal;
- stacker cranes lift containers inside the terminal to certain places and also remove them from there.
Like this, direct interaction of all terminals with cargo ships is carried out simultaneously, which increases the cargo handling capacity of the port.