By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of plans to expand seaport operations in Nigeria, the Lekki deep seaport is now halfway near completion. The project is expected to be completed in 2021, while commercial operations are scheduled to start in 2022.
Technical Director of the port, Mr Steven Heukelom, said in Lagos that when completed, the facility will conveniently berth larger vessels of 18,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) with its three container-berth of 680 metre long and 16.5 metre depth, as well as one liquid and one dry bulk terminals.
He said the project was 50 percent actualised in the breakwater construction and noted that there were still work on some critical parts of the construction.
“We are now almost half way in the breakwater construction. We have done 900 metres – close to one kilometre – and the full length will be 1.9 Kilometres.
“We will also dredge the channels going up – around 11 kilometres long, before we reach the natural depth of 16.5 metres and then we are good to go.
“In phase two, we will put the liquid jetties, while the basin in the channel will be deepened to 19.5 metres. The maximum size of container vessel that we can receive will be 18,000 TEUs. So, having big ships like this in the port will be a game changer,” he said.
Also, the port’s Landside Infrastructure Manager, Mr Kunle Fadunmuye, explained that 30,000 X-blocks were being produced to reduce the wave impact along the breakwater.
He said, “There are three types of X-blocks – the three-meter, two-meter and five-meter.
“We are using sulphate-resisting cement to build the X-blocks; the three-meter X-blocks are 7.2tons; two-meter X-blocks are 4.2 tons while the five-meter X-blocks are about 13 tons. The breakwater is like an egg. Its edge comprises the X-blocks, while the core consists of quarry rocks.
“We will be having the whole 50 hectares of Lekki Port floor covered with interlocking blocks. Presently, we are doing the dynamic compaction to increase the bearing capacity of the soil.”
He assured that the breakwater being built would stand serious wave impact, adding that groynes were also being constructed to complement the breakwater, which protects the harbour areas from sea waves.
Meanwhile, the Media Counsel/Relationship Group Director, Ms Adesuwa Ladoja, noted that the Federal Government and the port promoters were already working to connect the facility site in the Lekki Free Trade Zone by rail, this would be done in order to avoid the Apapa ports pitfalls.
Dipo Olowookere