The first ever RoRo berth constructed at Felixstowe was designed by Royal Haskoning. The landing facility consists of a 45m x 27m x 3m steel pontoon with concrete deck connected to the shore with two 45m long access bridges angled at 45° to the shoreline. Two hinged booms act with the bridges to form a triangulated structure to maintain the pontoon in position. After some ten years' continuous use an upper deck and a new link span were designed by the firm and added to allow simultaneous loading and discharge from both decks of a ship.
The second RoRo loading facility at Felixstowe, also designed by Royal Haskoning, consists of a 30 metre long adjustable shore ramp with a 6.7m wide carriageway on the lower deck and a 3.6m wide upper deck. The upper deck is supported at the nodes of the top chords of the steel trusses which form the main girders of the bridge. The bridge is raised and lowered by 2 hydraulic rams, each carrying about 200 tons. The ramp was initially operated as a single tier facility but, later, a top tier was designed and added to provide a hinged ramp at the ship end and an insitu concrete ramp at the shore end.
Since completion both facilities have been modified to cater for larger ships and heavier traffic loading. In the case of RoRo Berth No. 1 a lengthened and higher capacity linkspan from the top deck to the ship was installed, involving upgrading the wire hoisting mechanism, and the whole of the top deck was strengthened to accept 44t vehicles. For RoRo berth No.2 a new topdeck was installed (following ship damage) to upgraded loading and width requirement and the approach ramp was strengthened by means of external reinforcement.