International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam

The ICTT (International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam), India’s first global hub terminal is all set to ushering in huge investment in the coming years. The ICTT project is set to launch a series of ventures including the Rs 1,600-crore LNG terminal, the port-based Special Economic Zone (Rs 1,510-crore), International Ship Repair complex (Rs 315-crore), SBM (single buoy moorings) for Kochi Refineries Ltd (Rs 720-crore), Petro chemical complex for Gas Authority of India (Rs 7,000-crore), International bunkering terminal, Bulk cargo terminals, Cruise ship terminals, International Marina etc. 

Vallarpadam Container Terminal Project (VCTP) will be a unique project in infrastructure, especially to boost containerization in India. The project would be a role model for private-public partnership, blending efficiently private sector managerial efficiency and marketing acumen with public sector capital and infrastructure planning. VCTP will be India’s first ever International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT).

The first phase of International Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) was awarded to Simplex Infrastructure Ltd. The civil work for the project includes a large amount of piling work to be done on the site. The soil conditions in Cochin demand the pile to go to a depth of 80 meters with a diameter of 1100 mm.
Simplex in order to complete the humongous task in front of them decided to use Soilmec R-625, a machine which falls in the 60 tons class of piling rigs. This piling rig was brought from Bangalore where it was working in one of their sites (Hotel Ritz) where it has encountered soil conditions which were rock and has fared very well. During the discussion with the site personnel the following details have been recorded:

1. The machine was able to drill at a rate of 5.5 meters per hour in the soil conditions which are classified as hard clay and very difficult for drilling.