Ports are under increasing pressure from customers and stakeholders to provide more agile, streamlined and increasingly sustainable facilities. This is the case in the operational performance of cargo handling and port estate management, and attention is intensifying on the design and planning of marine civil works and construction in ports.
Ports and terminals are not only operators, and asset managers, but also developers. They seek to adjust infrastructure to suit market needs and make more efficient use of space and land. There is increasing legislation and a growing expectation that port operators and shipping companies will improve performance from environmental and social perspectives. Expanding physical footprint, extending marine structures, retrofitting or changing use in a port or terminal requires a great deal of consideration, study, and planning work.
Our versatility in supporting the development and maintenance of marine structures, ports, container terminals, and general cargo handling facilities is crucial for our clients who rely on our ability to understand the legislative and regulatory regime and guide them through the preparation of the necessary documentation.
Sustainability, Energy, and Climate Change Risk Solutions
The way in which new build terminals, extensions, expansions, and changes of use are being developed is evolving in their approach to addressing sustainability, in the use of natural resources and materials, energy consumption, and futureproofing. When planning new capital marine works and port facilities, we insist on integrating efficiency savings, robust sustainability options, and resilience against the significant risks of climate change and automated operations.
We have unrivalled expertise in container terminals, general cargo ports, liquid and dry bulk terminals, LNG facilities and jetties, Ro-Ro facilities, dry ports, inland container depots, free zone areas and port industrial estates, shipyards, dockyards, naval and supply bases, fishing ports, wharves, harbours, and cruise terminals.
Environmental Management, Permitting, and Consent
WSP has specific expertise in the delivery of environmental consents and permits in technical content, and project management. We prepare and deliver Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EISA), Sustainability Appraisals, Strategic Environmental Assessments, and the evidence required to accompany applications for discrete development through to entire projects.
Our service covers tidal works and marine licensing, permitted development, landside planning permission and sustainable development initiatives. We are well prepared to tackle new and enhanced technical elements required under the amended ESIA Directive 2014/52/EU, such as health impact and climate change resilience in design.
Our consenting, permitting, and ESIA experience embraces all stages of the project life-cycle from feasibility studies, analysis of options through to detailed design. Our role is often practical, supporting larger engineering contracts by reviewing, and supervising the ongoing civil works and monitoring activities being carried out by contractors.
Discharging consents, reviewing Environmental Management Plans and troubleshooting issues such as light, noise and vibration, air quality, waste management, and handling hazardous materials through to ecology and archaeology fall within our wide range of specializations.
Ground Risk and Remediation
WSP has an innovative, dedicated team of contaminated land and remediation specialists. One of our key strengths is our ability to both design and implement brownfield solutions, bringing commercial simplicity, speed and practical knowledge to our projects. We work hard at solving some of the world’s largest ground risk challenges and continue to deliver landmark projects internationally.
We can support your site characterizations, site diagnostics, and provide suitable remediation design. We have extensive experience in emerging risk areas such as asbestos in soils, persistent organic pollutants, and the impacts of long term water table changes.
