Dublin Port Company is currently delivering Ireland’s largest marine construction project in the form of MP2 – the second phase of the Dublin Port Masterplan 2040. The project involves the creation of an innovative new jetty, new quay walls, unified passenger ferry terminal, and associated marshalling yards, write Mairead Rushe, David Kuhn,Tom O’Dwyer, Byron Terris and Kenneth Hayes.

Dublin Port facilitates €165bn worth of trade annually via 15,000 ship movements. It is the largest and busiest port on the island of Ireland – a critical economic enabler.

DPC Berth 52/53.

MP2 sees the construction of two interdependent berths, totalling 572 metres, Berth 52 and Berth 53, at Terminal 5 at the eastern-most end of the north Port. They will include double tier linkspans (where two decks of a ferry can be loaded simultaneously), as well as infrastructure for the installation of shore-side electricity supply for ships while berthed in port. The berths are designed to cater for the largest-in-class Ro-Ro vessels of up to 240m length.

The unification of the ferry terminals will drive significant increases in efficiency, streamlining the turnaround times for ferry movements for our customers. This is a core driver of all projects within Masterplan 2040, increasing the port’s efficient use of our estate. Dublin Port already has some of the highest tonnage per hectare in the EU, making it one of Europe’s most efficient ports for its size.

MP2 has received €73.8m in funding from the EU’s CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) Transport Programme as part of over €7bn worth of total funding for projects across the EU.

Dublin Port’s Programme Management Office oversees construction of MP2. The Berth 52–53 section of MP2 was designed by Malachy Walsh & Partners (MWP) and is being delivered by Wills Bros Limited.

Design

Working at the mouth of the River Liffey, squeezed between the protected marine area of the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere and the very active shipping channel, MP2 faces unique challenges for the construction of new berths and terminal.

MP2 project area (in yellow).

The new Berths 52 and 53 must not interfere with either the biosphere protected area or the shipping channel. This means that the jetty itself has been designed to be as narrow as possible, while ensuring it has the strength and capacity to hold vessels up to 240m in length and 28,000 tonnes of displacement.

The jetty is a mere 10m along its width, requiring innovative piling methods to ensure that it has the strength to facilitate the large vessels that call regularly to Dublin.

Dublin Port has installed more than 200 marine piles to date, driven to a depth of up to 35m in certain places. The marine geology of Dublin bay poses interesting engineering challenges for the installation of these piles with alluvial, sandy material at higher levels, followed by a glacial till.  The piles are anchored at bedrock level giving them the majority of their restraining force.  

Malachy Walsh & Partners, consultants for the MP2 Design, needed to use several methods to ensure the piled system has sufficient strength, including raked piles, installed at an angle to absorb the lateral loading from vessels alongside. This design solution also uses post-tensioned high strength steel anchors through the piles which are grouted into the intact bedrock, ensuring the required strength.

MP2 project manager Tom O’Dwyer CEng MICE comments on the complexity of the marine structures: “Berth 52/53 Project is complex and unique in that it comprises three distinct geotechnical and structural solutions. On the western most section of the project, Berth 52, a combined wall solution was adopted using large diameter tubular steel king piles with infill sheet piles restrained via tie rods and an anchor wall.

“The middle section of the project, which hosts a large double tier linkspan structure and an approach bridge, is a concrete deck supported on tubular steel piles where staged construction using precast and insitu concrete form the deck.

"The eastern section of the project, which creates the main berthing face for Berth 53, is a jetty structure comprised of nine discreet mooring dolphins with integral link bridges. The varied nature of these three sections of the project provides interesting challenges during the construction phase where different work methods and considerable temporary works engineering are needed to ensure these structures are built safely.”

As well as the piling, the jetty must accommodate a crane for maintenance of the fenders and other large items required by the ferries. It was critical that the Berth 53 design achieved the required operational and safety performance criteria.   

Project manager Mairead Rushe MEngSc CIEI notes: “The berth 53 design is cognisant of tight spatial tolerances while ensuring function and safe operation. Detailed modelling and analysis played a significant role in the design.”

MP2 also introduces Dublin Port’s first automated mooring system, replacing the need for mooring lines, speeding up ferry operations considerably. The auto-mooring design is bespoke for Dublin Port, using vacuum suction, the auto mooring units make contact to the side of the vessel, adjusting with the tide and dampening the load and motion effects from environmental factors including passing vessels. By using this new system, the port can reduce the amount of space needed on the quayside for mooring operations while ensuring safe operations at the berth.

Environmental protection

Bespoke propellor wash screens are required to protect the Tolka estuary from thruster and propellor wash effects from vessels. These screens will ensure that current flow conditions remain within a tolerance of the existing flow conditions prior to construction. This is new technology for Dublin Port and is one of the core environmental protections in place as part of the MP2 project.

To form the marshalling yard, the existing basin (berths 52 and 53) will be filled in using spoil collected from other dredging in the port. Reusing this material is a crucial way to reduce our impact on the Dublin bay biosphere and wider marine ecosystems. This  dredged material will be encapsulated safely, protecting the marine ecosystem from any pollutants. The existing Ro-Ro berth there will be moved to a new quay, increasing efficiency in the eastern-most part of Dublin Port.

This material has been stored safely, in a stable bund at the MP2 site since 2022, using spoil from the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) project which was the first project under the Masterplan 2040.

Construction

Wills Bros are the main contractor working on the Berth 52/53 project. There is a significant fleet of marine plant on site currently, including a Jack-Up Barge, floating crane barges, transport barges and work boats to service a number of marine construction work-fronts simultaneously.

Construction is programmed to cater for environmental requirements, such as pausing piling works for the salmon smolt season. For this project, the environment dictates the sequencing of works. Marine Mammal Observers from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group are a key aspect of the site team to keep a keen eye out for any seals, dolphins, or porpoises that venture too near the construction area.

Enabling works began firstly from landside in May 2024, including infilling the base of the Berth 52 combiwall with a temporary embankment which allowed the works to be carried out from land. This allowed a solid foundation to be built first to set up the marine works. Once the combiwall permanent works are complete, the temporary embankment is removed – no small feat. This removal is sequenced to align with the Berth 52 coping beam construction and the marine piling works. Wills Bros' chosen work methodology for Berth 52, to utilise a temporary embankment, created a safe and efficient means of building the new berth.

Pile driving in Berth 52/53 uses both vibro and impact hammer methods, given the complexity of the marine geology as noted above.

Project manager Tom O’Dwyer CEng MICE commented on the progress of construction: “Works are progressing well, in particular the piling works at the Berth 53 Dolphins. Our delivery partner, Wills Bros, has made extensive efforts in choosing optimised work methods and utilisation of marine plant. The collaboration between Dublin Port, Malachy Walsh and Partners and Wills Bros has been essential thus far in progress gained to date.”

Construction is estimated to take until early 2028 for the completion of the works and into the early 2030s for the new unified ferry terminal, in line with estimates and is, so far, on time.

Ferry operations are expected to move to this terminal from mid/late 2028, speeding up turnaround times and increasing the efficiency of the critical routes to the UK and Europe.

Authors: Mairead Rushe, MEngSc, CIEI; David Kuhn MSc Eng, Engineering Council of South Africa; Tom O’Dwyer, BEng, CEng, MICE; Byron Terris; Kenneth Hayes BE CEng MIEI.