A Ro-Ro Ramp for Dublin Harbour

To manage increased commercial traffic, Dublin, Ireland, enlarged its harbour with 60,000 m² of new loading/unloading facilities and a new Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) ramp. The ramp was built in The Netherlands and towed to Dublin Harbour. The Ro-Ro ramp is located at the end of a new dock quay. It consists of a bridge supported at the shore by a hinge and integrated at the sea side with a pontoon. Only about seven months were available for the design, construction, mechanical installation and commissioning of the 350 t structure, so construction had to begin before the detailed design work was completed. Thus, the project was realised through "concurrent engineering," with design and construction as two parallel activities.