NEW SHIP DOCKING FACILITY
FEASIBILITY STUDY
Magellan Terminal Holding
Wilmington, Delaware
Magellan Terminal Holdings operates a major petroleum storage terminal in
Wilmington, Delaware, which serves the mid-Atlantic region. Located on the Christina
River at its confluence with the Delaware River, the terminal has 32 storage tanks with a
combined capacity of 2.8 million barrels of a variety of refined liquid petroleum product
which is loaded and unloaded from tankers and barges at two existing ship berths.
The Army Corps of Engineers is planning to dredge the Delaware River to a depth
of 45 ft. which would allow substantially larger oil tankers to dock at the terminal.
Kleinfelder was retained by Magellan to investigate the feasibility of constructing a new
tanker docking facility in the Delaware River to provide additional loading/offloading
capability for all liquid products stored at the terminal. The new docking facility will be
designed to accommodate the larger tankers.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge was to design a new ship and barge dock facility with associated
breasting and mooring dolphins and access bridges in the Delaware River with very
strong currents directly adjacent to an operating RO/RO (Roll-on/Roll-off) pier
operated by the Port of Wilmington.
KLEINFELDER’S SOLUTION
Kleinfelder’s solution was to locate the new docking facility so that it could utilize
the existing access bridge to the RO/RO pier, thus saving substantial cost in
constructing a new pedestrian bridge from the mainland to the facility. Various
docking layouts were investigated to accommodate ships up to 886 feet long and
152 feet wide and up to 125,000 deadweight tonnage. In addition, separate docks
were provided to accommodate smaller petroleum barges. Docking facilities
included: breasting dolphins; mooring dolphins with capstan winches; separate ship
and barge dock platforms to accommodate loading/offloading hose racks, pumping
equipment, and related safety equipment; pedestrian bridges to connect all docks
and mooring dolphins; and pipe bridges to transport the petroleum product from
the docks to the petroleum storage tanks located on land. Dolphins and docks were
proposed to be reinforced concrete structures supported on vertical and battered
steel pipe piles while access bridges were galvanized steel trusses supported on steel
pipe piles. More than 500,000 cubic yards of dredging will be required between the
new dock and the deepened Delaware River ship channel.
PROJECT RESULTS
Kleinfelder’s solution will maximize dock capacity in a limited area by docking large
ships on the river side of the facility and smaller barges on the landward side.
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