DP World says it has awarded two major civil construction contracts to the local/UK Dutco Balfour Beatty and Bam International of the Netherlands for its newest terminal, Terminal 4, being built on a reclaimed island north of Jebel Ali Port’s existing Terminal 2.

Terminal 4, which is due for completion by 2018, will add 3.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and bring the Jebel Ali Port’s total capacity to 22.1 million TEU.

The new terminal, a company statement said, will be equipped with at least 110 cranes with a total quay length of around 11,000 metres by that time.

Both contracts are for phase 1 of Terminal 4

Dutco Balfour Beatty is developing an operational yard area with a quay length of 1,200 metres while Bam International Abu Dhabi is building a 400-metre bridge and adjacent causeways, in addition to the 2.2 km quay wall with a depth of 18 metres, designed to accommodate the largest container vessels.

CH2M Hill will also deliver the civil works on the reclaimed island, which will be connected to the mainland by a 3,000 metre causeway.

DP World said it had started work on phase one of a new container terminal at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai in July 2015. MEED reported that DP World awarded Bam  the estimated AED370m ($100m) contract to design and build the access causeway, bridge and quay wall in January 2014.

The new terminal will deploy the latest technology, according to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO. “We have a long track record of investing proactively to expand capacity at our operations… we are building Terminal 4 from the ground up, which enables us to future proof it for smart container ships emerging in the future,” Bin Sulayem said.

Terminal 4 will be equipped with semi-automated quay cranes. Phase 1 will also feature 13 of the world’s largest and most modern quay cranes, to be remotely operated from a sophisticated control room off the quayside, according to Patrick McKinney, area manager at BAM International Middle East and Gulf. Some 35 automated rail mounted gantry cranes (ARMG) will also operate in the yard.

Both contracts are for phase 1 of Terminal 4. A planned second phase, which will be built by Dutco as well, will add 4.7 million TEU with an operational yard whose quay length is about 1,000 metres.