Construction of Rail Connectivity from Idapalli to International Container Transhipment Terminal(ICTT)at Vallarpadam,Kochi

Cochin Port is an all-weather port situated within a protected natural harbour,just 11 km away from mainland shipping route.Total draft of 15m-16m is available and it is a natural choice for setting up transhipment hub.The International Container Transhipment Terminal(ICTT)at Vallarpadam was developed by DP World and M/s Cochin Port Trust(CPT).As a part of this project,the new Rail connectivity from ICTT at Vallarpadam to Idappalli station is 8.60km,including the construction of 4.62 km elevated bridge was awarded to AFCONS by M/s Rail Vikas Nigam Limited(RVNL),in 2007 with a scheduled completion by 2009.This bridge is constructed for single railway track and piling was done for the provision of a second railway track in future.The 4.62 km long bridge was successfully completed and Trial Loco run was done in March 2010.This paper includes details of sub-surface profile,engineering properties of soils,details of construction of pile foundations and Challenges faced during construction.

Delphi-Based Planning Approach in the Maritime Transport Chain

The objective of this paper is to illustrate behavioural aspects and a collaborative Delphi-based planning approach in the maritime transport chain. Therefore, this paper analyses changes in behavioural routines and governance structures in the maritime transport chain using a case study that depicts mutual projections of expected container transhipment moderated by a neutral third for reducing the uncertainty in planning within the whole maritime transport chain. The actors＇ different views on container transport are collected and directly confronted to an expert panel showing bounded rationality and thus asymmetric information can be circumvented The planning approach shows how actors＇ different internal planning can be improved and evident to the market. The whole maritime transport chain expects the future development in container transport which can be given by using collaborative Delphi-based planning. As a result, an overall picture for planning issues can be constituted, improving both individual planning of the actors and expected market growth.

The Hub Status and Transportation Network of Kribi Port

In this paper, a study on four African ports was taken out that all have the ca-pability to become a hub port that can serve the central African region. The paper sort to determine which port was most suitable and port indexing was the method that was used to evaluate these ports. The ports evaluated were the port of Kribi, the port of Bata, the port of Libreville and the port of Pointe-Noire. There were other models that were also used which included linear regression and linear programming which all contributed to providing the final results of the port with the most suitable potential to serve as a hub port and meaningful results were obtained. The final results showed that the port of Pointe-Noire was the most suitable port to serve the central African region as a hub port.

An Evaluation of West and Central African Ports to Serve as a Hub on the Gulf of Guinea Container Ports Range

The level of competitions among ports keep increasing as port worldwide keep upgrading and expanding their port infrastructures so as to capture the greater share of the market. Every continent phases these competitions. This phenomenon is more prominent in developed countries where ports do not only compete among regional ports but also compete with other ports within the same country such as in America, some European countries and part of Asia like in China. However, the situation is a bit different when it comes to African ports. Most African ports have poor infrastructures and limited technological investments and so port competitions in the African continent cannot be compared with that of the western ports. Despite these setbacks, there is a significant amount of competition among these African ports, especially on a regional basis. The aim of this paper is to determine which port can serve as a hub port between the West and Central African ports along the Gulf of Guinea. The method that will be used to evaluate these ports will be a port indexing method. This method considers different indices for port evaluation to determine the most suitable port. The port of Tema appeared as the most suitable port to serve as a hub port.