Dry excavation method contributes to high-quality engineering projects

The Second Container Terminal Project in Egypt's Sukhna

This year, the Second Container Terminal Project in Egypt's Sukhna received the local National Quality Engineering Award, following its techniques being recognized as being of internationally advanced level at the China Institute of Navigation's Scientific and Technological Achievement Evaluation Meeting last year.

The project was designed and constructed by China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd., with the participation of the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

During the bidding stage of the project, the project management team faced fierce competition from 7 international bidding companies. The construction method adopted for the first phase of the Sukhna Second Container Terminal project involved the manual excavation of the navigation channel and the use of dredging ships. Many foreign companies claimed that they could complete the project using their own advanced dredging equipment.

Against this backdrop, the project management team, at a disadvantage in terms of large-scale dredging equipment, creatively proposed the use of the "dewatering and dry excavation method", which refers to constructing the harbor pool under dry conditions within the coastline and then excavating outward to form the terminal. This approach can also create more opportunities for local employment and economic development.

Eventually, this solution stood out among numerous competitors and won the bid based on its superior plan, price advantage, and benefits for the local community.

The Second Container Terminal Project in Egypt's Sukhna

The large-scale excavation construction of the 200,000-tonnage sea-facing permeable layer docks was a first both domestically and internationally. The project management team actively integrated domestic and foreign technical resources and regularly adjusted the calculation model based on the actual data at the project site.

Additionally, mature settlement equipment and monitoring instruments in China could not be exported to Egypt at that time. To solve this problem, Feng Zhaosheng, production manager of the project, led the technical backbone to visit the local materials market and spent a month producing a water pump using parts created by various countries, significantly improving the drainage efficiency of the port area.

With the joint efforts of Chinese and Egyptian employees, the project landed safely and smoothly, directly driving a large number of domestic equipment and skilled workers to the country, providing more than 800 job opportunities for Egypt.

When Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly visited the project, he highly praised the contribution of the project to local economic development, "Each piece of equipment represents a family, and here is the source of income for hundreds of families. Thank you for providing employment opportunities for the people in the eastern coastal areas with this unique construction method."

After the project was officially put into operation, the cargo handling capacity increased from 1.1 million standard containers to 2.85 million standard containers, greatly facilitating logistics transportation, supporting the construction of the Suez Canal corridor and the economic development of Egypt, and attracting wide attention and recognition from the Egyptian government and society of "China’s Wisdom".