Being one of America''s premier seaports, the Port of Long Beach has embarked on an ambitious $1.3B Middle Harbor Development Program that involves expansion and modernization of two existing container terminals at Piers E and F. The project includes new container wharves approximately 1450 ft long at Pier E Berths E24-26, and rehabilitation of backland areas. A large area of land mass was reclaimed at the south end. The mudline elevation at pierhead line was deepened to El. -55 ft MLLW.

EMI provided geotechnical wharf pile design, slope stability evaluation, pile-soil interaction evaluation, and backland development. EMI also provided geotechnical support services during construction.

​Berths 145-147 Wharf Upgrade and New Wharf
Port of Los Angeles, California

Berth 145-147 in the Port of Los Angeles will be a 1,725 ft long container wharf upgrade to extend Berth 143 and provide a 2,600 ft long berthing facility for future ships. The existing 1020 ft long wharf will be upgraded and the remaining 705 feet will be developed as a new container wharf. Also, the channel depth will be deepened from 35-42 feet to 53 feet.

EMI performed optimized design for underwater bulkhead using state-of-the-art seismic soil-structure interaction analyses.

EMI also developed design response spectra representing two design levels of earthquakes, conducted a detailed field investigation and laboratory testing, and performed liquefaction, slope stability, and pile capacity analyses. For the wharf upgrade, underwater bulkhead using steel king piles with large steel H section were evaluated.