Since 2017, Port of HaminaKotka Ltd has been upgrading the D-area of the Mussalo Harbour to improve the service level and to enable the increasingly efficient handling of larger vessels and bigger cargo volumes. In the first phase of the project, areas of land operations were filled with material derived from the sea, basic infrastructure of the area was built, a harbour basin was dredged, a breakwater and noise barrier were built in the western part, and the first part of the quay and a rail connection were constructed. At the same time, port operator Steveco built a 20,000 m2 pulp warehouse in the area. In the second phase of the project that finished this autumn, the quay project was completed and additional rail connections were built. Steveco also built another warehouse terminal of 24,000 m2 in the area. The City of Kotka has also continued the filling of the background area of the D-area to become an industrial site, which will enable the additional construction of almost 50,000 m2 of warehouses in the northern part of the area.
Waste reclamation in the building of the area
The Port of HaminaKotka has a permit to utilise concrete and brick waste in designated areas and to use waste rock in port structures. Environmental considerations are important in port construction, and in the construction work of the D-area, they were taken into account by means such as utilising concrete and brick waste left over from demolished schools and bus station in the structures of the area. Rock material extracted from the sea during the dredging of the D-basin was used to build a breakwater and some of it was moved to Palaslahti as backfill for the industrial area.
“The project was implemented in less than 7 years in an area of approx. 50 hectares, with more than 2 million cubic metres of earth material shifted on land and sea. The total dredged volume was approx. 770,000 cubic metres. The project had no effects on the cloudiness of the sea area or changes in fish stocks, which were monitored in several observation points throughout the construction phase by an external party," says Jari Kontunen, Project Director of Port of HaminaKotka Ltd.
Significant investment
The project is a significant investment both for Port of HaminaKotka Ltd and many other parties involved in the project. Almost a total of 100 million euros have been invested in the construction and equipment of the area. The port company accounts for about 60 million euros of this. The water and quay construction in the D-area, the rail connections in the background area and the noise barrier have been partially financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe instrument with a good 10 million euros.
“The port company started to develop the D-area of Mussalo so that even larger ships and the goods flows they carry could be handled as efficiently as possible and so that containers and break bulk could be handled in the same location, also optimising rail transport. The D-area now completed provides a first-rate operating venue for the international transport of the Finnish wood-processing industry,” says Kimmo Naski, Port Councellor (satamaneuvos) and CEO of Port of HaminaKotka Ltd.
