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Bridges & infrastructure
Walvis Bay Bulk Handling Terminal
Ship-loader gantries, quayside transfer galleries and a rail-tippler building on the Atlantic coast — designed for permanent salt-spray exposure and 140 km/h design wind.
Project data
- Client
- Namibian Ports Authority Concession
- Location
- Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Year completed
- 2022
- Tonnage
- 2 780 t
- Environment
- ISO 12944 C5-M marine
- Steel grade
- S355J2+N
- Design wind
- 140 km/h, 3-second gust
- Coating
- Duplex — galvanized plus polysiloxane
- Programme
- 13 months
The challenge
Permanent Atlantic salt spray is the most aggressive corrosion environment we design for, and the terminal cannot be taken offline for a maintenance repaint once it is handling contracted volumes.
Our solution
We specified a duplex system — hot-dip galvanizing swept-blasted and overcoated with polysiloxane — which delivers a service life longer than either system alone. Faying surfaces and enclosed sections were detailed for full drainage and internal galvanizing access, eliminating the crevice-corrosion traps that usually fail first.
The outcome
Independent coating inspection at 30 months recorded no measurable breakdown. The structure is rated for a 30-year first-maintenance interval.
Engineering highlights
- ▹Duplex galvanizing plus polysiloxane for C5-M marine exposure
- ▹Detailed for full drainage — no crevice-corrosion traps
- ▹140 km/h design gust with dynamic gantry load cases
- ▹30-year first-maintenance interval
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