The expansion of the west side container terminal as part of the 200 million dollar port modernization project has hit another milestone. Overnight Thursday – the last of the 8 cement caissons for expansion of the container pier was moved into place.
The caissons are about as tall as the Government of Canada building at the intersections of Prince William – Duke – and Water Streets. They were constructed onsite in a floating dry dock brought in for the project between April and late October of last year. The amount of concrete poured for the 8 caissons is slightly more than the amount of concrete used to build the CN Tower in Toronto.
Port Saint John spokesperson Paula Copeland says other aspects of the project planned for this year include dredging of the main channel and the area near the new expansion – building of the Long Wharf breakwater – closing the 15 metre gap between the last caisson and container terminal pier – and beginning of upgrades to the existing rail and terminal yard area as well as new state of the art truck entrance to the container terminal.
Completion of the project is scheduled for 2023.
