ASCE Los Angeles Section

Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, CA

This innovative project redeveloped an existing container terminal into a state-of-the-art automated container terminal, the first of its kind on the West Coast. This terminal is the first in the world to implement automated truck loading and unloading of containers. This project utilized sustainable design and innovative technology and resulted in reduced air emissions and increased safety in an operating terminal.

The Berths 144-145 Backland Redevelopment Project at the Port of Los Angeles is the recently completed phase of the first automated container terminal on the west coast of the United States, and the first in the world to implement automated loading and unloading of road trucks. This 21 acre project was completed in April of 2014; it consisted of the infrastructure for 4 fully automated stacking blocks (rows) and 2 mini automated stacking blocks. The final phase (72 acres) is under construction and expected to be complete in March 2017. This project uses two systems of automated technology: automated horizontal transport (straddle carriers) and automated stacking cranes (ASC). This development utilizes a state-of-the-art integration between the terminal operating system technology with terminal navigation systems (equipment operation) and port infrastructure. The main advantages of a fully automated container terminal, utilizing this technology, are the elimination of bottlenecks, safety, significantly higher TEU productivity, shortening the stay of the ship at the container terminal, the accuracy of the data flow, and continuous monitoring of container storage. The automated container terminal has container Automatic Identification and complete electronic exchange of information between shippers and terminal, terminal and railways, and terminal and customer. This automated technology allows cargo to be transferred more efficiently from the ship to truck and rail and vice versa.

Automation Equipment:
The automated shuttle carriers are guided throughout the terminal by thousands of strong magnets imbedded in the ground. The magnets are placed in a hexagonal pattern with alternating polarity every two feet. Sensors, on the shuttle carrier, read the polarity and intensity of the magnet to calibrate their position during the move to and from the vessel to the automated stacking block. The shuttles use an electro pulse counter in the tire for calibration and has the ability to use satellite GPS, as a secondary reference check. The shuttles are equipped with anti-collision and height locating sensors. The TraPac terminal has approximately 1000 magnets per acre.
The Automated Stacking Cranes are the core of the stacking area operation. Each automated stacking block is operated by two ASCs, in a twin operating scheme, on a single set of crane rail. The blocks are eight containers wide and are densely stacked with only 1 foot - 4 inches of space between each stack. The ASC cranes stack one over five containers high, weigh approximately 230 tons, and are operated by the terminal operating system and the terminal logistics system. A reference marker is placed on the concrete tie every 25 feet as a reference position.

Benefits:
This automated container terminal reduces air emissions, increases safety, decreases maintenance costs, decreases operating cost, keeps the Port of Los Angeles on the leading edge of technology, and helps maintain the competitive advantage as the leading north American seaport. Terminal automation will provide the platform for increasing efficiency to handle post Panama ships and allow Southern California to compete with the expanded Panama Canal.

The innovative automated design included ASC blocks, design considerations for waterside and landside interchange areas, container stacking area, crane rail and foundation, grading, drainage, pavement, and electrical power supply. The design incorporated a complex sand filter storm drain design system, in compliance with Low Impact Development (LID) requirements. Storm water will be treated prior to ocean disposal.

Challenges:
o Developing new standards, this technology has never been done before.
o Paradigm shift in container terminal design, the success of the project was heavily dependent on collaboration and coordination between Crane Manufacturer, Tenant, Port, and Design Consultant. The infrastructure design was driven by the operation of the ASC blocks, site conditions, crane manufacturer’s requirements, and the tenant’s priorities and phasing requirements. Since the manufacturer was on board early, crane loads, dimensions, and parameters we taken into account in the early design.
o Construction in an operating terminal, the redevelopment of the terminal was broken out into in five construction phases in order to minimize impact to the existing container operations. The phasing was planned with consideration of the actual delivery and assembly of the ASCs and automated shuttle carriers.
o Adjacent construction projects, coordination with 7 adjacent construction projects with several contractors with separate project limits and different schedules was and is constant. In addition, relocation of existing oil lines was required, which introduced additional construction in a very limited and functioning area.
o Irregular Shape, the triangular shape footprint of the existing terminal and the constraints posed by the existing electric substations dictated the geometry of the design.
o The suitability of LID stormwater controls within the Port environment depended upon physical, constructability, and operational constraints that did not exist in upland areas within the watershed. One of the drainage difficulties was designing for extremely broad flat areas (less than 1 percent) both in the container stacking areas and in the automated shuttle carrier areas. A study of various stormwater treatment controls was completed to evaluate the feasibility of retaining stormwater on site using infiltration, harvest and reuse, or evapotranspiration. In the operations areas, including the ASC blocks, porous pavement, underground detention storage, and filtration into rail ballast sections were possible. However, because land use is at a premium, landscape-based controls such as vegetated swales and other open areas were not feasible for operations areas.

The innovative design of the Berths 144-145 Backland Terminal will make it a state-of-the-art facility that will become a standard for future POLA terminal utilization.

The success of the project was having expectations set and roles and responsibilities defined at the start of the project. This helped to understand how equipment, operations, and infrastructure were dependent upon each other and helped streamline the decision making process.

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This innovative project redeveloped an existing container terminal into a state-of-the-art automated container terminal, the first of its kind on the West Coast. This terminal is the first in the world to implement automated truck loading and unloading of containers. This project utilized sustainable design and innovative technology and resulted in reduced air emissions and increased safety in an operating terminal.

The Berths 144-145 Backland Redevelopment Project at the Port of Los Angeles is the recently completed phase of the first automated container terminal on the west coast of the United States, and the first in the world to implement automated loading and unloading of road trucks. This 21 acre project was completed in April of 2014; it consisted of the infrastructure for 4 fully automated stacking blocks (rows) and 2 mini automated stacking blocks. The final phase (72 acres) is under construction and expected to be complete in March 2017. This project uses two systems of automated technology: automated horizontal transport (straddle carriers) and automated stacking cranes (ASC). This development utilizes a state-of-the-art integration between the terminal operating system technology with terminal navigation systems (equipment operation) and port infrastructure. The main advantages of a fully automated container terminal, utilizing this technology, are the elimination of bottlenecks, safety, significantly higher TEU productivity, shortening the stay of the ship at the container terminal, the accuracy of the data flow, and continuous monitoring of container storage. The automated container terminal has container Automatic Identification and complete electronic exchange of information between shippers and terminal, terminal and railways, and terminal and customer. This automated technology allows cargo to be transferred more efficiently from the ship to truck and rail and vice versa.

Please Note: MLAB is submitting this nomination on behalf of the original nominator as this project was selected to receive this year’s MLAB Outstanding Public Civil Engineering Transportation Project Award.