The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe. We were commissioned by a confidential international investment client to carry out a purchaser environmental health and safety due diligence assessment (EHSDDA) of a large container terminal business based in the Rotterdam harbour area. The EHSDDA was performed by AECOM’s Netherlands office, and our UK operations performed the technical and financial portions of the Due Diligence.
The container terminal handles, stores and maintains containers, breakbulk and general cargo. In addition, the container terminal operates trimodal transport services (e.g., linking barge, rail and road) via a subsidiary in a joint venture with a Rotterdam-based deep-sea terminal operator.
A site visit and extensive data-room review were conducted to produce a conclusive report. The report contained various recommendations for adjustments, which were highly valued by the customer. Based upon the results of the EHSDDA, as well as financial and technical reports, the investment firm decided to invest in the container terminal.
The Euromax Terminal Rotterdam is one of the most advanced and environmentally friendly container terminals in the world. The terminal has been designed for the fast, safe and efficient handling of large container ships. The cranes at the terminal have a reach of 23-containers wide.
AECOM’s services encompassed planning the new, highly automated container facility located on a 130-acre greenfield. We performed a detailed analysis to ensure balance between the wharf and cubic-yard capacity. We also conducted a detailed terminal simulation analysis to evaluate various crane configurations and width, comparing options such as bridge cranes, straddle carriers and automated stacking cranes.
The terminal features a full suite of buildings, including administration and maintenance, an on-terminal rail yard, and connection with other terminals via a dedicated roadway for multi-trailer trains.
We are assisting the Rotterdam and The Hague metropolitan areas on behalf of 100 Resilient Cities, pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. The goal is to develop a resilience strategy to future-proof cities in order to ensure they are ready for challenges associated with climate change, the new economy, digital society and more. The cities select their areas of focus based on the specific challenges they expect to face.
For the city of Rotterdam, AECOM supported the municipality in drafting their resilience strategy, with a focus on six areas:
• Social resilience and education
• Climate change resilience
• Critical infrastructure
• Cyber resilience and big city data
• Changing governance
• Energy and port resilience
The resilience strategy for Rotterdam – which was the second and final step in the roadmap developed by 100 Resilient Cities – was successfully launched in the spring of 2016.
Following Rotterdam’s success, we were appointed again by 100 Resilient Cities to support The Hague. We assisted with the first step on the roadmap, which is the organization of a workshop to explore the focus areas for the city based on potential challenges. This effort will lead to the Preliminary Resilience Assessment, a focus-area report that is due for delivery by the end of 2016. The challenges The Hague will most likely encounter are sea-level rise and coastal erosion, an increase in refugee population, eroding infrastructure, cyber-crime, and terrorism.