CHARLES P. HOWARD CONTAINER TERMINAL PORT OF OAKLAND, CA

F.E. Jordan Associates, Inc. was selected as part of the joint venture design team for the Charles P. Howard Container Terminal Wharf. The Howard Container Terminal includes a 1760’ ft. concrete wharf designed to accommodate two modern container ships. The wharf consists of a cast-in-place 24” flat slab support by 24’ octagonal prestressed piles driven on an 18’-0 x 16’-9 grid. The piles were driven through a rock dike which confines fill behind a 80’ wide wharf. A 150 ton, 100 ft. gauge gantry crane spans between the outboard piles and a pile-supported concrete girder located in the fill behind the wharf.

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Firm’s Role

In the selection of a design scheme for the wharf, FEJA conducted an exhaustive analysis of alternative structural systems. Alternates included systems utilizing batter piles, large cylinder piles and specially reinforced vertical prestressed piles. The latter system was chosen based upon the advantages of improved structural performance through increase flexibility, lower costs resulting from the elimination of batter piles and improved constructability due to the simplified configuration.

In a comprehensive study by the Port of Los Angeles, the project was ranked the most outstanding container facility in the world with regards to state of the art structural design, constructability, operability and maintenance.