High elastic stiffness
Maintains confinement and structural response under repeated crane, reach stacker, truck and container loading.
Ports and container terminals operate under some of the most demanding pavement and ground conditions in infrastructure. Container yards, quay areas, crane zones, terminal roads, working platforms and storage areas must support intense static and dynamic loads while maintaining safe, efficient operations with minimal downtime.
Marine and reclaimed sites often include weak, saturated or compressible soils, increasing the risk of settlement, deformation and pavement deterioration. These conditions are further intensified by concentrated container loads, heavy handling equipment and continuous traffic.
Common port and container yard challenges include:
Container yards are particularly demanding because heavy equipment repeatedly operates over concentrated load zones while maintaining tight tolerances for cargo handling and stacking. Uneven settlement or surface deformation can affect vehicle movement, equipment stability, drainage and overall terminal productivity.
For port owners and terminal operators, reliable ground and pavement performance is therefore essential to maintaining cargo flow, equipment efficiency, operational safety and long-term infrastructure serviceability.
Neoloy® Tough-Cells are relevant for port and container terminal infrastructure because they address both the engineering performance and the construction constraints of heavy-duty marine environments.
The system creates a semi-rigid reinforced mattress that distributes vertical loads over a wider area, reduces stress on weak subgrades and helps control differential settlement. This is especially important in ports built over reclaimed land, dredged sand, saturated soils, compressible marine deposits or heterogeneous fill.
For ports and container terminals, Neoloy® Tough-Cells can help:
Neoloy® Tough-Cells are manufactured from Novel Polymeric Alloy – NPA, with properties suited to long-term port and container yard infrastructure:
Maintains confinement and structural response under repeated crane, reach stacker, truck and container loading.
Supports long-term dimensional stability and helps maintain cell geometry under sustained and cyclic loading.
Resists hoop stresses as concentrated port loads are distributed through the confined structural layer.
Supports long-term performance under water exposure, chemicals, UV and demanding marine conditions.
Creates a semi-rigid reinforced layer that spreads heavy crane, reach stacker, truck and container loads over weak soils.
Improves subgrade response and supports heavy-duty pavement performance.
Helps limit differential settlement under static and dynamic loading.
Increases the modulus of sand, recycled aggregate or marginal infill used in structural layers.
Supports pavement performance in saturated, marine and drainage-sensitive environments.
NPA material properties help maintain confinement under demanding port loading conditions.
Material optimization, reduced subgrade replacement and local infill can reduce project cost.
Folded sections, simple installation and reduced material volumes support shorter construction windows.
Phased construction and lower maintenance help keep terminal operations moving.
Stronger pavement structure reduces repairs, deformation and resurfacing needs.
Stable yards and pavements support safer, more efficient container handling and heavy equipment movement.
Enables locally dredged sand or available fill to be used as structural infill where validated by design.
Supports recycled crushed concrete and reclaimed pavement materials as part of optimized pavement structures.
Less hauling and quarrying can reduce project footprint and logistics burden.
Optimized layer thickness and material reduction support lower CO2 impact.
Reduces waste, disposal and site disruption.
A container terminal operator in Gdansk, Poland needed to expand storage yard capacity over heterogeneous, saturated ground with a subgrade modulus of 40 MPa. The yard had to support reach stackers lifting containers with axle loads up to 1000 kN and stacking containers five high.
Neoloy® Tough-Cells were selected to reinforce the subgrade and subbase using locally dredged sand as infill. The system created a stiff, self-draining reinforced layer that helped distribute loads and reduce differential settlement.
Project value delivered
View Gdansk Container Yard Case Study
PRS supports port infrastructure projects with engineering evaluation, pavement optimization, application-specific design guidance, installation training and relevant project validation from similar heavy-duty infrastructure.