Hambantota port, which is the second largest port of Sri Lanka after the Colombo port is located in the Hambantota district in the southern province. This port was first known to be operational in the general area of Hambantota around 250 BCE, when Chinese and Arabian merchants used it as part of the maritime silk route.

Reefers (refrigerated containers) are used to transport perishable goods around the world. When they are in port awaiting onward shipment, an external supply has to be provided to power the Reefer. A safe and efficient method of providing power for multiple Reefers is to construct a purpose built Reefer Gantries, which enable containers, stacked three or four high to be safely powered.

This reefer access gantry was built under the Hambantota port development project. This harsh, tropical marine environment is extremely tough on steel structures built in the port. This extreme environmental condition adds to the need for a robust coating system. Hot dip galvanizing overcomes those environmental challenges and provides decades of maintenance-free life.

This reefer access gantry project included large, heavy hollow structures, handrails and stairs. The fabrication of these structures required detailed communication in between the galvanizer and the fabricator to eliminate after galvanizing issues, such as weld seepages, uncoated areas, issues arise due to venting and drainage, etc.

The distance to the Hambantota port from the Galvanizing plant is around 240 km. Handling damages can occur during the high distance transportation of painted structures was eliminated by tough HDG coating. These Hot-Dip Galvanized reefer access gantry structures are a good example solution for corrosion problem in marine constructions.