Ideally, it is best to dredge out all the soft material and then replace it with either sand or gravel. However, not only is the cost prohibitive, but disposal of the dredged material often involves relocating it close to the zone from which it was dredged to fulfil environmental regulations.

A much cheaper solution is to pre-load any future terminal operating area. This involves bringing in a large amount of material and distributing across the area requiring stabilisation. This has the effect of dispersing the water trapped in the soil into surrounding areas. Once this has been achieved, the pre-load material can then be removed.

The key to getting this latter approach right involves first calculating how much weight will eventually be placed on the site once container stacking commences. By putting down a greater weight of pre-load material, the amount of subsequent settlement is reduced, cutting down on the quantity of re-paving that inevitably becomes necessary.