Characteristic of quay walls is that ships can berth alongside. This is space saving compared to situations where there is a slope. Cranes, trucks and trains can get close to the ship and it is comparatively easy to handle the freight. In order to ensure that the handling of the freight occurs as quickly as possible, the design takes into consideration current and possible developments. These include:

• Demands arising from local conditions • Demands of the future user • Nautical demands • Anticipated developments in navigation and the dimensions of ships • Anticipated developments in transhipment and freight storage

The requirements that the quay wall must satisfy will vary according to the users. For ships, there must be sufficient draught for the biggest vessels to berth. For the handling of freight, it is also essential to have a storage area that is big enough and that has sufficient bearing capacity to provide for future transhipment, storage and transport. Naturally, the quay wall must also be well designed and constructed for an acceptable price/quality relationship. The area must be sufficiently elevated to remain dry at high tide and, from the management point of view, it is important that the quay should have a low maintenance requirement and a long lifetime. In addition to this, the local conditions such as water levels, tidal influences, soil characteristics of the ground and the climatic conditions of every place in the world are different, so it is clear that a great deal of experience, ingenuity and creativity must go into the making of an optimum design.