Liv0rno port’s seaward expansion project, the Darsena Europa, designed to attract new traffic quotas, has taken a decisive step forward.
After months of work, the integrated contract for building seaward defences and carrying out dredging operations was signed , this afternoon, in the presence of the president of Tuscany Regional Adminsitration, Eugenio Giani.
The contractual agreement was signed by the Special Commissioner for the project, Luciano Guerrieri, and by the Special Attorney Carlo Alberto Marconi, representing Sidra, the leading company in the temporary joint venture set up between Società Italiana Dragaggi, Fincantieri Infrastructure Opere Marittime, Sales and Fincosit.
Now the contract has been signed, the successful tenderers will have 90 days to present the executive project. For this purpose the temporary consortium has appointed Technital spa (leading company), Modimar Project and E&G. Once this has been done, the removal of wartime debris will start. This will require 270 days.
Instead, the work itself will last 1700 days. As far as the maritime infrastructure is concerned, it will involve building a 4.6 km long outer seawall, consisting of the new Diga Nord breakwater and the new Meloria breakwater (the old one will be demolished). In addition, 2.3 km of inner seawalls will be built to delimit the new (dredged-material) containment basins (100 hectares) that will be added to the existing ones (70 hectares), already subject to a consolidation project.
The dredging operations are designed to provide the foundations for the new infrastrutture, deepen the harbour access canal and create the basins and internal docks.
In all, 15.7 million cubic meters of sediment will be dredged. A portion of the excavated material, totaling five million cubic meters, will be used to counteract the rise in sea level and the loss of coastal areas due to erosion. At the same time, the sediments will be used as filling and construction material, replacing the virgin quarry material, hence with the aim of protecting the landscape.
The commission staff expects to start work on the project by the end of the year, once the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the procedure designed to identify the environmental effects of an infrastructure project in advance, has been obtained.
The stipulation of the contract represents an important signal for relaunching the port of Livorno. “The work will change the face of our port of call and will have a significant impact on the entire North Tyrrhenian Port Network,” said Mr. Guerrieri. “It hasn’t been easy to get this far. It took a lot of determination and perseverence, with team work involving all our staff in the commission body.”
At the same time the work starts, the Port Network Authority will issue a separate call for tenders for the terminal itself. Private partners will be asked to contribute to its construction and management.
The facility will consist of 60 hectares of yards, a 1400 linear meter quay with a seabed depth of -16 meters (with the possibility of increasing it to -20 meters), a new harbour access channel to the north of the port with a depth of -17 meters (with the possibility of bringing it down to -21 meters).
With the new infrastructure, Livorno aims to double its container traffic from the current 800 thousand TEUs to 1.6 million. “It’s going to be a complex process from a technical and administrative point of view,” Mr. Guerrieri added . “By 2026/2027 we count on having that logistic and competitive scenario that will be able to allow our port of call to become increasingly competitive on the international scene.”
Mr Guerrieri wanted to expressly thank vice commissioner Roberta Macii and her staff for the work they’ve done so far. Moreover, he stressed the importance of the on-going support from Tuscany Regional Administration and Livorno City Council (“Without the collaboration of Tuscany Regional Administration’s staff, who didn’t stop working even during the Christmas holidays, we would never have managed to set up the tender commission on schedule).
The Special Commissioner finally wanted to wish good luck to the temporary company partnership that will be asked to carry out the work.
Mr. Marconi spoke about the complexity of this project during the event: “This is the most important maritime engineering infrastructure in Italy” he declared. “The numbers are of paramount importance: we will have to dredge 16 million cubic meters of sediment, build a 4.6 km long seawall, transport 5 million tonnes of stone and place 25 thousand boulders to protect the breakwaters. Together with Fincantieri, Fincosit and Sales we are all focused on the objective. This will have to be achieved in a rather short time, by 2026/2027”.
The Mayor of Livorno, Luca Salvetti, who took part in the event together with the local councillor for the port, Barbara Bonciani, did not fail to underline the importance of today’s signature: “Thanks to the work carried out by the Port Network Authority , part of the future is being written”, he said. ” Darsena Europa is the train that the city and the local area cannot afford to miss. Today’s signature is a fundamental step towards designing and building the port of tomorrow”.
The president of the Tuscany Regional Administration, Eugenio Giani, was satisfied and at times enthusiastic. After a brief historical parenthesis on the origins of Livorno, on Livorno’s laws and on the role that the port has played in the local regional context, he dwelt on the importance of the project, defining it as a unique opportunity for Italy: “Today’s signature is something irreversable that will enable Livorno to put itself on the map as one of the most important Italian ports of call. The seaward development of the port that has always been considered the main gateway to Tuscany depends on the Darsena Europa” he said.
Mr. Giani wanted to thank Mr Guerrieri and Ms Macii for their work. “The president of the Port Network Authority has been able to combine expertise and common sense with an unquestionable capacity for political liaison. It is thanks to him and Dr. Macii that we have achieved this result. The Darsena Europa will be the fulcrum of the future development of Tuscany’s largest port.”
Dr. Macii also expressed her gratitude: “To be here today, to witness this signature which marks the achievament of an objective that we have been trying so hard to reach over the last few months, is an honor and a responsibility. I want to thank the whole team for what has been done”.
Regional councilor Francesco Gazzetti and the other two executives of the Commission body, Enrico Pribaz (responsible for the infrastructural part) and Simone Gagliani (responsible for the administrative and economic part) were, among others, also present.
