San Vicente Port Project Chili

The world is becoming more and more complicated. The wishes and requirements of people increase and this is in conflict with the capacity of our habitat. Metropoles, like Concepción, are growing fast, resulting in a growing demand for shipping. San Vicente Port is one of Chile’s main seaports, so it benefits from this growing demand. The Port of San Vicente is strategically located near the city of Concepción and with its various terminals is able to handle all kinds of cargos ranging from containerised cargo, dry bulk cargo, general cargo, as well as liquid cargos such as petroleum. But the port is dealing with changing conditions.

The port faces two important problems:
(1) The growing demands for shipping are expected to cause capacity problems in the port. To avoid congestion in the future, the port's masterplan describes an extension.
(2) Climate change may have important consequences for port operation. The port needs to adapt to the changing conditions. In addition, the port authority's view is to become a pioneer in innovation and sustainability.

A masterplan for the port has been prepared, outlining the expansion plans for the future. Climate change has not been part of this study, but effects like sea level rise, changing wave climates, tsunamis and earthquakes are important factors influencing port development. Climate change is a new important key element for the developments of ports and this project integrates adaptions for climate change with the ports expansion plans in a new masterplanning approach.
The goal of the San Vicente Port Project is to do a climate change impact analysis. This analysis includes a research on the future wave climate, a study on the downtime of the port and a proposal for integration in the masterplan for the port.
The San Vicente Port Project will be executed by a multidisciplinary team of four MSc Students from Delft University of Technology. The team is in Concepcion, Chile in Q1 2018-2019 to execute the project.

More information on the website of the project: https://www.sanvicenteportproject.tk/