Docas do Rio to refurbish the Gamboa Wharf at the port of Rio de Janeiro

The Companhia Docas do Rio de Janeiro (CDRJ) will expand and modernize the oldest section of Port of Rio de Janeiro, the Gamboa Wharf, erected in 1910. The structural works are worth R$ 140 million and will be carried out to deepen the harbor draft and allow larger vessels to operate.

CDRJ signed the contract on February 4th with the Porto Rio Consortium, which won the bid. The project is scheduled to begin in April of this year and be completed by the end of the first half of 2023.

The Engineering Superintendence of Docas do Rio will supervise the refurbishing work and cover a 600-meter long area of the Gamboa Wharf. According to Roberto Catalão, the engineering superintendent, this section of the pier has a metallic foundation base with a double wall of granite ashlars filled with cyclopean concrete, a structure designed and built with the techniques available at the time for a draft of 9 meters.

“This depth no longer meets the needs of most modern ships, which require at least 13.5 meters of draft. However, to increase this operational draft, we must modernize the original structures, which would not support dredging,” explained Catalão.

According to the Port Authority, the studies conducted confirmed the technical, socioeconomic, financial, and environmental feasibility of this intervention, which will not change the current environmental conditions and maintain the existing pier’s basic characteristics.

The renovation works will be divided into the following stages: erecting piles to support the new pier crowning beam; injecting cement soil to act as a retaining wall to prevent erosion below the quay wall; crown beams, one on the current pier and another at about 5 meters, supported by the new piles; and precast slabs with a concrete cover, supported on the crown beams.

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