Portsmouth Port - Britains best connected ferry port

Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port has appointed a master planner to review its existing passenger and freight facilities, and develop the plans for a new, modern terminal to enhance the service the Port provides and meet predicted passenger growth to 2040.

The new terminal, due for completion in 2010, will replace the existing 1976 structure. It will house state-of-the-art facilities for Port customers and be a testament to the Ports position as the premier port for the Western Channel.

Chichester based, Halcrow Group Limited, who specialise in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure development, has been appointed by the Port to undertake the master planning process. This is to ensure that the new facility is built in harmony with the current and future activities of both the Port and the local environment.

Rachel Fowler, master planner at Halcrow, says: "The key to this development is keeping the whole Port operational while the new terminal is built, which is quite a challenge. That is why there is so much preparation and research to be done before the design and construction of the new terminal commences."

Phil Gadd, Ferry Port Manager at Portsmouth, commented: "A new terminal and the new services it will offer to our customers are essential to meet anticipated growth in the coming years. The master plan will enable us to ensure minimal disruption to our existing customers and our local environment throughout the design and build process."

There are several key processes involved in master planning a development of this size and complexity, and Halcrow will be:

- Looking at future predictions of the number of foot passengers, cars and lorries that will be using the ferry terminal and the times of the year, week, day that they will be passing through.

- Identifying the needs of these ferry terminal users - will they remain in their vehicles, will they need to get out of their vehicles to use toilet/cafe/rest areas/etc facilities, will they already have tickets or need to purchase tickets?

- Determining the size of the new terminal to meet future growth, including working out how big the terminal building needs to be to provide all the facilities that the ferry users want, e.g. cafe, toilets, rest areas in correlation with the increased numbers expected.

- Identifying a location for the new terminal - the existing terminal will be kept open while the new one is built.

- Evaluating traffic flows around the Port to achieve effective queuing and loading, and fast turn around of the vessels including separating landside and waterside movements. This is equivalent to separating departures and arrivals at an airport.

- Implementation of appropriate customs, immigration, and other clearing processes

Following this review and research stage of the master planning process, the design of the new terminal building itself, including the Port facilities and then the construction are due to get underway at the end of 2009.