LHI designs India’s second largest container port
Lanka Hydraulic Institute Ltd. (LHI), was awarded the project of
mathematical model studies for RRM for improvement of Draughts in
Hooghly Estuary, where sediment deposits at the entrance of the river
has made India’s second largest container port redundant.
Hooghly River is approximately 40km away from Kolkota. It is said
that Vasco-da-gama, the Portuguese sailor was one of the first Europeans
to reach this area which was a river port then. The Portuguese used
Hooghly River as a main way of transportation and also as a trading
port.
The town of Hooghly, which is more than 500 years old, was soon
transformed into a major commercial centre and the largest port in
Bengal in the 1500s and is today considered one of the most economically
developed districts in West Bengal due to its main cultivation industry
of jute. The formation of sand bars has raised the river bed, making the
shipping channel shallow.
Many of India’s power companies, steel and chemical plants and
refineries are spending massive amounts to divert their cargo through
other ports. In a situation nearing closure LHI was awarded to conduct
the mathematical model testing, at their own laboratory at Katubedda.
Moratuwa. Clients can gain visual access to the proceedings through IP
Cameras fixed in the flume/basin.
“The model studies are proposed to be carried out using a combination
of 1D and 2D modelling techniques to design a suitable model. The wave
impact in the lower estuary of the Hooghly will be studied using the
Spectral Wind Wave model. The stirring of sediment of outer bars from
wave action is important.” said.
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