Car terminal extension gets the green light

Terry Hutson
APPROVAL HAS been granted for a R107 million upgrade of the Durban Car Terminal (DCT). Work is due to start next month (May) on a four-storey car parking facility and bridge that will dramatically increase capacity at the countryÕs busiest terminal.
Bev Masson, manager of the DCT, confirmed to FTW that plans to add a further 3 300 parking bays to the terminalÕs present 3 000 had been approved.
The extensions call for a three-storey car park in front of the existing terminal, which occupies 8,5 hectares at Cato Creek.
The terminal, which was built in response to the dramatic increase in the number of motor vehicles being imported and exported as the South African motor industry embraced globalisation, currently handles between 16 and 19 ships each month, compared with about four or five in 1997.
Some of the shipments involve up to 2 800 vehicles per ship with an average of 8 000 vehicles being handled each month, peaking sometimes at 13 000. During 2001 over 100 000 motor vehicles were handled at the terminal.
Most exports arrive by rail on special car trains whereas a large percentage of imports go out by road.