GIKEN SEKO CO., LTD. (head office: Kochi-shi, Kochi; president: Akihiro Nishigawa; hereafter “GIKEN SEKO”), a company of GIKEN Group (parent company: GIKEN LTD.; parent company president: Shinnosuke Moribe; hereafter “GIKEN”), is participating in a Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) project in Senegal. This project, the Dakar Port No. 3 Terminal Renovation Project, has received a 2022 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award [Group-2]* from Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE). The award is given to groundbreaking projects that make important contributions to the development of civil engineering technology and to the development of society.
Due to the need to maintain ship operations and cargo handling throughout the project, the Gyropress MethodTM, a rotary cutting press-in method , was adopted, and a free-standing tubular pile wharf was constructed without impacting berthing and cargo handling operations. ODA stakeholders have spoken at length about this project, in the media and seminars, as a good example of using unique Japanese technologies to solve construction issues in developing countries.
Going forward, GIKEN Group will continue to contribute to solving a range of construction issues globally by taking advantage of its unique technologies to develop high-quality infrastructure.
*Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award: Awards are given for projects, with recipients of this particular award including the Ports and Harbours Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Mitsui Consultants Co., Ltd., Kensetsu Gijutsu Center, Ltd., and TOA Corporation. Three members of GIKEN SEKO were listed as contributing engineers.
■ Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award [Group-2]
The JSCE Award program was launched in 1920 by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers to promote civil engineering progress, civil engineering project development, and civil engineer quality improvement. With a total of 10 fields, awards include Outstanding Research Achievement Awards and Environmental Awards.
■ Dakar Port No. 3 Terminal Renovation Project in Senegal
In March 2021, GIKEN SEKO completed the press-in portion of a wharf rehabilitation project at the Dakar Port in the Republic of Senegal. The work, over a section of approximately 350 metres, employed the Gyropress Method™, a rotary cutting press-in method for tubular piles.
[Safety an issue with other construction methods]
Dakar Port is Senegal’s only international port. While the volume of cargo passing through the port for inland countries is increasing every year, the third pier, which handles this cargo, was showing obvious signs of aging and was hindering cargo handling operations. Large ships were not able to stop at the port either due to the shallow water depth, so there was an urgent need to rebuild the wharf.
The initial plan was to build up the wall by stacking concrete blocks in the water. However, this would have moved the wharf about 22 metres toward the sea, narrowing the distance to the opposite pier and reducing safety and convenience for ship operations. In addition, a working platform on a barge would have to be used, which would have left the issue of safety for berthing and cargo handling operations during construction.
Addressing issues with Gyropress MethodTM
Use of tubular piles provides more freedom in choosing how far forward to move the wharf. In this case, the wall only needed to be moved six metres, which was about 16 metres less than the concrete block method would have required. Using the Gyropress MethodTM, which is one method for constructing tubular pile walls, the self-moving press-in machine moves across already driven piles. This enables construction without the need for a working platform on a barge, so there is no impact on ship berthing and cargo handling operations. In addition, the rotary cutting press-in method uses cutting ring bits attached to the tubular pile toes to enable installation directly into the rock and rock armour layer. It does not require other processes either, such as temporary works, prior excavation, and replacing existing ground material, so this construction is much faster than other methods as well. With an extremely positive response to these features, the Gyropress MethodTM was adopted for this project.
■ Project overview
| Project Name | Dakar Port No. 3 Terminal Renovation Project |
|---|---|
| ODA Type | Grant Aid |
| Location | Dakar, Senegal |
| Project Owner | Port Autonome de Dakar (PAD) |
| Design and Construction Management | Joint venture between Mitsui Consultants Co., Ltd. and Kensetsu Gijutsu Center, Ltd. |
| Prime Contractor | TOA Corporation |
| Construction Company | GIKEN SEKO CO., LTD. |
| Equipment | GYRO PILERTM F401-G1200 (2 units) |
| Specification of Pile Elements | 304 tubular piles (diameter 1,000 mm, length 21.0–23.0 m), including 299 permanent and 5 temporary piles 299 small diameter piles (diameter 318.5 mm) |
| Project Period | April 2019 to September 2022 |
| Press-in Construction Period | September to November 2019 (Phase 1) February to March 2021 (Phase 2) |
■Profile of GIKEN Group
GIKEN developed SILENT PILERTM, the world’s first reaction-based hydraulic pile jacking machine, installing piles without noise or vibration. GIKEN Group now actively promotes its press-in technology worldwide and contributes to the construction industry by proposing and implementing innovative solutions. The innovative press-in technology provides a unique solution and the adoption of this technology has spread to over 40 nations and regions.
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