Project

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas is located at the southern tip of Johor. The port is being developed in 5 phases, with the phase I already completed and able to handle 4.5 mio. TEUs annually. For phase II development of the port, an additional 2.8km of linear wharf comprising of 8 new berths were proposed to be added to the existing 2.16km of berths.

Phase II development of the project involved vibro compaction of the reclaimed areas. The total compacted area was about 2.1 mio. m2, comprising both the berth and terminal areas. The purpose of the compaction was to reduce future settlement, which may arise from the loose sandy deposits and also to ensure slope stability at the berth area.

Field trials were used to determine the grid spacing to meet the CPT criteria of 7.5MPa. As a result of compaction, the tip resistance of fill material increased by 2 to 4 times. The depth of penetration varied from 18m to 27m below working platform level. At the peak of the operations, up to 5 depth vibrators were in use for onshore compaction (3 units of single vibrators and 1 unit of twin-vibro set-up). Whereas, a crane barge with twin-vibro set-up was also used for offshore compaction. The vibro compaction works were completed in about a year period.