Increasing demand on port services and the need for a robust infrastructure management
The demand for port services increase. There are a multitude of different approaches on how to design, construct and maintain the infrastructure. The challenges include a sound construction and maintenance of quays and pavements, treatment of sewage water and management of dredged sediments, clean or contaminated. Thus a network has been formed and titled “PortInfra” to consider issues such as how ports can:
• exchange and develop knowledge on construction and maintenance of port infrastructure
• cooperate with the construction industry to develop management of port infrastructure
• provide an improved infrastructure for a sustainable transport system
The needs of the ports in the Baltic Sea Region
To get an insight into the situation and needs connected to infrastructure and plant in Baltic Sea Region ports, two interview studies were conducted in 2013, one of them concerning Swedish ports and one Baltic Sea Region ports.
Click on the images to the right to read the reports from the studies.
The challenge of the Baltic Sea Region
The challenge of the Baltic Sea Region is to continue to increase prosperity despite the economic situation in EU and reach economic growth for all parts of the region and at the same time save the sea from environmental degradation. How to deal with this challenge has been presented in the European strategy for the Baltic Sea region, EUSBSR which identifies three objectives for the region:
1) saving the sea
2) connect the region
3) increase prosperity
These objectives will partly be reach trough an improved and more sustainable transport infrastructure and a shift to rail and sea transport.
Infrastructure and ports
According to EU strategies on transportation, ports will in the future play an increasingly important role as logistics centers.
To become such logistics centers requires good access and infrastructure to the inner areas of the countries, and possibilities to handle increased amounts of freight volumes. This development within the ports needs to be done using a sustainable resource management.