Home5.5Million Linear Meters of Marine PVD Construction,Sabang Bay Container Port Expansion Project, Sabah, Malaysia
Release time：Jun 18,2026
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The Sabang Bay Container Port Expansion Project in Sabah, Malaysia is a landmark overseas port project jointly built by China and Malaysia under the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as a key upgrading project for the core shipping hub in East Malaysia.
As the core critical procedure for underwater soft ground improvement of the project, marine PVD construction directly determines the consolidation quality of port foundation, overall structural stability and long-term safe operation of the wharf.
A total of over 5.5 million linear meters of marine PVDs have been installed in this project, with the maximum penetration depth of a single vertical drain reaching 32 meters, covering a total construction area of 210,000 square meters.
Restricted by the unique geographical, hydrological and meteorological conditions of Sabang Bay waters, the PVD vertical drain construction of this project faces complicated working conditions and prominent construction difficulties, which are mainly summarized as follows:
1、The project is located in an open bay without natural barriers, where wind and waves occur frequently. The annual effective working days are less than 220 days. The normal wave height ranges from 1 to 1.5 meters, while extreme wave height can reach 3 meters. Such conditions easily cause shaking and positioning deviation of PVD installation barges, resulting in verticality deviation of vertical drains exceeding the specification limit of 1.5%, which may lead to construction suspension, equipment damage and destruction of finished sections.
2、The water depth of the construction area varies greatly from 3 meters to 24 meters with intricate interlacing of shallow and deep waters. The underwater silt layer is generally 25 to 30 meters thick, imposing stringent requirements on the performance of marine construction barges, PVD installation equipment and the operational proficiency of construction crews.
3、The local tidal range reaches 2.8 meters, and the current velocity in partial areas can hit 0.24 m/s. The superimposed effect of wind waves and currents greatly raises the difficulty of marine construction management and control.
Guangzhou Sunzo Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd. has specialized in marine soft ground improvement for years. Supported by solid technical strength and abundant experience in overseas coastal projects, the company is fully capable of adapting to all kinds of complex marine construction environments.
This project witnessed a major technological breakthrough: the self-developed original static-pressure marine PVD installation technology of the company was applied in the industry for the first time, and all construction tasks were successfully completed.
Four dedicated marine PVD installation barges, multiple high-power static-pressure PVD rigs and high-precision GPS positioning devices were deployed on site to implement high-standard control over vertical drain penetration parameters.
Relying on the three-dimensional collaborative model integrating equipment, technology and management, the construction team efficiently overcame all construction challenges and successfully finished all marine PVD works.
Remarkable soft ground improvement performance was achieved: the foundation bearing capacity increased by over 40%, and all settlement indicators met specification requirements, fully satisfying the long-term operation demands of the port and providing reliable support for the subsequent auxiliary construction of the port zone.
With years of accumulated engineering practice, SUNZO has established core technical advantages covering the whole process of marine soft ground improvement. The reliability of construction equipment, operation efficiency and adaptability to harsh environments have been verified by numerous large-scale marine ground treatment projects.
Source: Guangzhou Sunzo Foundation Engineering Co., Ltd.
If you have ground improvement demands for your project, please feel free to contact Sunzo. We will provide customized solutions tailored to project conditions to facilitate safe and efficient project delivery.
