Roller compacted concrete pavement as a sustainable solution for Somali port terminals

Somali's port terminals, including Mogadishu, Berbera, and Bossaso, are crucial for boosting the country's economy and global trade. With planned expansions, the total country capacity is expected to grow by 2.5 million TEU in the coming years. Despite recent upgrades to Berbera, other terminals require varying degrees of rehabilitation. Although Somalia's ports have traditionally used flexible-asphalt concrete (AC) pavement, there has been a recent shift toward rigid pavements. Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) pavement, combining concrete's durability with asphalt's placement methods, has yet to be implemented in Somalia. Its proven resistance to heavy static and dynamic loads makes it a cost-effective option for port terminals, as successfully demonstrated in the USA and Canada.This study evaluates the performance of existing asphalt pavements at Somali ports and compares them with RCC pavement alternatives. Based on field visits to Somali ports and a literature review, the existing typical asphalt pavement layer was modeled using a finite element-based pavement analysis program to evaluate its responses under critical dynamic handling equipment and static container stacking conditions. The analysis predicts that the asphalt pavements in Somali ports will be subjected to significantly high stresses under critical loading conditions, which could lead to substantial deterioration. In contrast, when the RCC pavement alternative is preferred, deformation can decrease by up to 50% compared to asphalt pavements. Additionally, cost analyses reveal that while RCC pavements have a slightly higher initial cost compared to asphalt pavements, their significantly lower maintenance and repair requirements result in a substantial advantage in life cycle cost analysis, offering up to a 33% reduction.