Port of St. Lucia expansion

St. Lucia, Caribbean
2017
Ballast Nedam International

Saint Lucia is a Caribbean island, a tropical paradise located in close proximity to Martinique, Saint Vincent and Barbados. It has a great attraction for tourists, who arrive on cruise ships. Cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger and the port facilities are no longer sufficient for them. That is why the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) wanted to expand the facilities and make them suitable for the changed market. We took care of the construction.

3 new mooring posts
25 x 50 meter quay expansion

Once our work was completed, the large vessels of the Freedom and Quantum Class could also call at the port of Saint Lucia. The existing quay was extended by 25 by 50 metres and, among other things, we placed three new dolphins in the extension of the existing dolphin. This was standard work for us, but surprising challenges always arise.

Adapting the pile-driving method

Ballast Nedam has accumulated a great deal of experience on similar projects, such as on St Maarten and Suriname. That came in handy when our engineer discovered that an earlier soil survey did not match the reality. We were then able to quickly select and apply a different piling method.

Extra capacity at high speed

The project ran into a time crunch due to a design change: the first pile went into the ground on 1 June 2017, while tourists could already book a cruise for December 2017. Because we and the authorities are aware of the importance of the tourism sector, we accelerated the process in close consultation with the authorities. As a result, we expanded our capacity and started working 24/7. We were able to offer this flexibility thanks to an experienced team and our own equipment.