Issue 78

S. Majer et alii, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 78 (2026) 504-518; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.78.29

Figure 3: Key offshore wind-related investments within the Szczecin– Ś winouj ś cie port complex. The dynamic growth of cargo throughput further illustrates the strategic importance of the port complex. According to Statistics Poland, the ports of Szczecin and Ś winouj ś cie handled approximately 30.7 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, accounting for nearly one quarter of the total cargo traffic in Polish seaports. This confirms their position among the most important logistics hubs in the Baltic Sea region [9]. The continuous expansion of port infrastructure and offshore wind facilities has generated increasing demand for heavy-duty pavement structures capable of accommodating exceptionally high operational loads. The diversity of cargo operations, the presence of specialized handling equipment, challenging geotechnical conditions, and the growing importance of offshore wind logistics make the Szczecin– Ś winouj ś cie port complex an excellent case study for investigating pavement design under extreme loading conditions. he design of heavy-duty pavements in port areas is strongly influenced by local geotechnical conditions. This issue is particularly critical in coastal and estuarine environments, where natural soil deposits are commonly characterized by low bearing capacity, high compressibility, and significant spatial variability. Such unfavorable conditions frequently necessitate the implementation of advanced ground improvement measures and rigorous settlement analyses during the structural engineering process [3,4]. The Ports of Szczecin and Ś winouj ś cie are situated within the Odra River estuary, an area shaped by complex geological and geomorphological processes associated with glacial, fluvial, and marine activity [10,11]. As a result, the subsoil conditions within the port complex are highly heterogeneous, comprising anthropogenic fills, sandy deposits, silts, clays, gyttja, peat, and other organic soils typical of estuarine environments. Furthermore, the groundwater table is typically encountered at shallow depths and is directly modulated by water level fluctuations within the Baltic Sea, the Szczecin Lagoon, and the Odra River system. T G EOTECHNICAL CONDITIONS IN PORT AREAS

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