What we delivered

  • Provided multidisciplinary design services during Stage 2, helping pinpoint the port’s location, layout, operations, costs and transition strategy

  • Led the Stage 3 peer review for the marine, road and rail design, providing strategic technical insights, identifying gaps and uncovering opportunities for innovation

  • Brought together an integrated team of local, regional and global port design specialists

Services used
Maritime infrastructure design / Ports and waterfront planning / Rail infrastructure design / Road design and engineering /

Get in touch with our team

Westport is a long-term Program by the Western Australian State Government to develop a future port in Kwinana with integrated road and rail networks. The planning and design of a future container port and its associated supply chains is complex and multi-faceted. Westport engaged our firm for specialist port planning and marine and landside infrastructure technical design services, leveraging our technical design capability, global strategic insights, and innovative and integrated design approach.

We have been working on the Westport Program since 2019, providing services in Stages 2 and 3 across a wide range of technical disciplines, including port planning, maritime infrastructure design, transport planning, road design, rail infrastructure design, geotechnical engineering and advisory services. Our integrated team of local, regional and global port design specialists worked in a fast-paced environment to meet project deadlines while adding value to the Program through our holistic thinking, technical insights, flexible approach, and by futureproofing designs.

The Westport Program will deliver Western Australia a world-class container port and trade network, driving future economic prosperity. It will enhance trade outcomes for exporters, importers, and the economy, while fostering local growth and job creation. The Program will also strengthen the State’s finances, support the development of Australia’s most sustainable port, benefit the community and ensure safety for workers and the public.

Combining local expertise with global port experience

The Westport Program’s infrastructure is complex requiring specialist technical design expertise. To develop and refine design options for Westport’s future marine and landside supply chain, we brought together an integrated team of local experts and global port design specialists from the United Kingdom and Europe.

We combined our international experience in container terminal design with local knowledge of the site, stakeholder constraints and environmental conditions. We provided technical insights spanning multiple infrastructure types which fed into a rigorous multi-criteria assessment, helping pinpoint the port’s location, layout, operations, costs and transition strategy.

Following our work in Stage 2, we led the Stage 3 design peer review for the marine, road and rail workstreams, identifying critical gaps, and uncovering opportunities for innovation. We worked collaboratively with Westport and the design team responding to the State Government’s business case timeline and provided strategic insights to shape the Program’s detailed design stage.

Navigating complex stakeholder requirements and project interfaces

Designing a new port and transport infrastructure involves reimagining the entire supply chain and managing complex stakeholder interfaces. The Westport Program’s preferred design has been developed with sensitivity towards Cockburn Sound, a sheltered marine embayment south of the Swan–Canning River mouth at Fremantle, influencing the port’s footprint and dredging design. It has also been guided by integrated planning for other major infrastructure projects, such as the new Kwinana Bulk Terminal, future Defence plans, desalination plant expansion, and broader road and rail network upgrades.

Early in Stage 2, we facilitated a series of workshops, bringing together diverse stakeholders to identify future requirements, opportunities, constraints and to determine which interfaces were fixed or flexible. Building upon insights and feedback from the workshops, we developed seven shortlisted port layouts and last-mile road and rail designs that are flexible and futureproofed with consideration of long-term functional requirements.

Our deep understanding of the region – enhanced by our leadership on the Western Trade Coast Infrastructure Strategy and other projects in the Cockburn Sound – and strong government relationships provide us with a holistic view of the Westport Program within the city’s strategic direction. By aligning design with the state’s goals and future needs, we have offered holistic design advice to maximise best-for-Program outcomes.

Port design with shipping containers, forklift trucks and cranes

The new container port will support the state’s goals and future shipping and trade needs ©Westport

Design showing large waterfront shipping container port

The future port in Kwinana with integrated road and rail networks ©Westport