Page 10 - Port Saint John’s $205 million Port Modernization Project

A Harris Rebar worker carries an armload of
rebar to be used in the new concrete caissons.

MODERNIZATION MEANS at this location, making more depth for ships with
JOB CREATION deeper draft alongside the new pier structure.

A project this size has had its challenges, but Port
In this initial phase of West Side Modernization,
Saint John has tackled and overcome them. One
activity from container growth alone will double
challenge involved taking extra precautionary
direct and indirect jobs across the region, from 500
measures regarding slippage on slopes at the site,
to more than 1,000, not including economic growth
which required tests and analyses of the soil and
spinoffs. More than 1,400 person-years of direct
careful mitigation in planning and design.
and indirect jobs will be created during the current
seven-year design and construction phase of the
Another challenge is carrying out construction work
project, according to Port Saint John.
around a port that’s still operational. This reality
necessarily creates the need to plan phasing in
In early June 2020, concrete was poured for the
future additional projects such as filling in two slip
first of 8 caissons that will form the base of the new
piers that will be closed off by the new pier structure.
wharf. Piles that are up to 130 feet long are being
driven into bedrock to support a retaining wall
“We’re putting in this new dock that spans across
between the new and old pier structures. Once in
two slips,” Quinn says. These slips have seen less
place, the wall will permit safe dredging conditions

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