Port of Felixtowe - third rail terminal

The Port of Felixtowe is Britain’s largest and busiest container port, welcoming over 3000 ships each year. Volker Fitzpatrick was appointed to deliver a new third rail terminal to meet the port’s growing transport demands.

  • Volker Fitzpatrick
  • Fjori Ltd (for Norder)
  • Felixtowe, UK
  • 2012
  • Port pavement engineering
  • Heavy-duty pavement analysis and advice
  • Options assessment
  • Reporting with recommendations
  • Multiple area load case compliancy
  • Use of multiple heavy-duty pavement design techniques to evaluate structural design
  • Multiple port handling equipment assessment
  • Development of new proposed port pavement detailing and techniques

Designed and built to serve the latest generation of giant container ships, each able to transport up to 18,000 standard 20ft long containers, the new rail terminal carries longer 30 wagon trains and can achieve over 60 movements in and out of the port every day.

Fjori was commissioned by the Volker Fitzpatrick team, to provide advice to the existing consultancy team on heavy duty paving for ports and specifically the detailing of concrete block paving. Fjori carries out a detailed load case review for the zoned traffic patterns. Fjori also carried out heavy duty concrete pavement analysis based on Interpave, RR87, and Airpave 11 analysis techniques to interrogate the adequacy of proposed designs. This work allowed Volker Fitzpatrick to modify all pavement designs to ensure compliance with loading requirements was met.

The new 730m long rail terminal includes nine sidings and a heavy duty paved area to allow for the transfer of containers onto road transport. Crane rails were installed to serve three new rail mounted gantry cranes. The terminal is equipped with Britain’s only inter-modal locomotive traverser, which allows locomotives arriving at the terminal to be moved sideways to run back around the outside of the terminal, allowing the operational length of the terminal to be maximised with standard train loads increased from 24 to 30 wagons.