CLIMPORT”, a research project on the effects of climate change on the design and construction of port infrastructures, is born
One of the impacts of CLIMPORT will be to position the Spanish port sector as a leader in technologies adapted to climate change in the field of port design and construction
Due to their long service life and coastal location, port infrastructures are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Given this evidence, there is a need to establish new methodologies for the design and construction of ports that take into account the effects associated with climate change.
To address this problem, the project entitled “Modeling system for the design and construction of port infrastructure adapted to Climate Change” (CLIMPORT) was formulated; which has been co-financed within the call for Projects in Public-Private Collaboration 2022.
CLIMPORT is being executed by a public-private consortium led by FCC Construcción and comprising the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria), three large construction companies (FCC Construcción, DRAGADOS and ROVER Maritime) and three large engineering firms (ACCIONA’s Engineering area, the Sener engineering and technology group and the engineering area of the Amper Group, PROES Consultores), which have extensive experience in the field of engineering and maritime works. The execution period of this project is from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026.
This project aims to design and build port infrastructures adapted to climate change, so it will research and develop an innovative system that considers the effects of climate change in the design of resilient port structures, which is essential to ensure sustainable mobility.
It will generate an innovative modular system that will incorporate new professional methodologies for the design and construction of port infrastructures, integrating statistical tools, databases, international standards and state-of-the-art construction procedures.
One of the innovative elements of the CLIMPORT project is that it explicitly adds the analysis of risks associated with climate change; another innovative element is the integration of variables for designing and constructing ports, considering different temporal and spatial scales, which represents a unique approach at the international level.
Among the key aspects of the CLIMPORT project are: the analysis of climate risks in the design and construction of ports, incorporating the effects of climate change and quantifying the uncertainty of the results; the development of the digital twin of the hydraulic behavior of the port, for different phases of its life cycle; the cooperation with the BIM philosophy; the modular system that allows great versatility and scalability; and the characterization of the potential of renewable energies in ports.
Participation in this project demonstrates the corporate social responsibility of all partners in the public-private consortium. This can be seen because CLIMPORT’s implementation is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). In addition, the system to be developed will be a benchmark in the design and construction of resilient port infrastructures, which will strengthen the international competitiveness of the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System.