El Papel del Transporte Multimodal en la Construcción Sostenible

Multimodal transport applied to the sustainable construction sector involves the planned integration of at least two transport modes — rail, road, maritime or waterway — under a single logistics contract for moving materials. According to Eurostat (2023) data, the construction sector accounts for roughly 30% of total road freight traffic in the European Union, equivalent to some 3.2 billion tonnes of materials transported each year. The near-total reliance on trucks means logistics represents between 5% and 9% of a construction project's total cost, with an associated carbon footprint that can reach 0.12 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne-kilometre for conventional diesel vehicles.

Shifting to multimodal schemes capitalizes on the specific advantages of each mode: rail emits 3.5 times less CO₂ per tonne-kilometre than road transport, according to the European Environment Agency (2022), while inland navigation reduces emissions by up to 50% compared to trucking for distances exceeding 300 km. Countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have developed intermodal terminals specializing in construction materials, with a capacity to transfer 1,500 tonnes daily between barges and trains. This infrastructure enabled projects like the expansion of the port of Rotterdam to move 42% of its aggregates and precast elements by waterway during the construction phase between 2019 and 2022.

The environmental benefits of multimodal transport in construction translate into verifiable reductions. A study by the International Transport Forum (ITF, 2021) showed that combining rail and road in building projects cuts total supply-chain emissions by between 28% and 35%, depending on the average distance covered. In the London Crossrail project, completed in 2022 at a cost of 18.8 billion pounds, 7 million tonnes of excavated earth were removed by barge along the Thames, preventing roughly 150,000 truck trips through the city centre and saving approximately 68,000 tonnes of CO₂.

From an economic standpoint, consultancy McKinsey (2022) estimates that construction companies adopting multimodal logistics achieve savings of between 12% and 18% on transport costs for distances exceeding 250 km. The average cost per tonne-kilometre by rail stands at 0.03-0.04 EUR, compared to 0.08-0.12 EUR for road transport in the EU. In addition, the reduction of road congestion in urban areas cuts delivery times by 15-20%, improving site productivity and reducing the indirect costs associated with stoppages and delays in the supply chain.

The viability of multimodal transport depends on technological tools that coordinate flows across different modes. State-of-the-art TMS (Transport Management System) platforms such as those developed by Oracle Transport Management or SAP TM allow planners to design intermodal routes that automatically select the optimal transport combination based on cost, lead time and carbon footprint. In 2023, 72% of European logistics companies with more than 500 employees used some form of digital multimodal management platform, according to a survey by Transport Intelligence. These platforms integrate real-time data from GPS, IoT sensors and weather forecasts to redirect loads between modes when disruptions occur.

The territorial planning of intermodal terminals is a decisive factor for the success of these strategies. The European Commission, through the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) programme, has earmarked 25.8 billion euros between 2021 and 2027 to develop multimodal corridors, of which 18% include terminals specifically designed for construction materials. In Spain, the Zaragoza (PLAZA) intermodal terminal, covering 13.1 million m², operates as a logistics hub connecting rail, road and air transport and handles over 2 million tonnes of goods annually, of which roughly 22% come from the construction sector.

Despite its advantages, multimodal transport in construction faces significant barriers. The fragmentation of the construction sector, where 92% of firms in the EU are SMEs with fewer than 10 employees according to Eurostat (2023), makes it difficult to negotiate multimodal contracts that require minimum volumes of 500-1,000 tonnes per shipment. The lack of standardization in loading units is another obstacle: while 20- and 40-foot maritime containers are standardized, construction materials such as 12-18 metre steel beams, precast panels or heavy machinery require adapted loading solutions that increase handling costs by 8% to 15%.

The outlook for the coming decade points toward deeper modal integration driven by regulation. The EU Fit for 55 legislative package sets the goal of shifting 30% of road freight over 300 km to rail or waterway by 2030, and 50% by 2050. For the construction sector, this implies estimated investments of 4.2 billion euros in modal transfer infrastructure adapted to heavy and bulky materials. Pilot projects such as the one in Stockholm, where since 2022 construction materials have been distributed via a network of urban micro-hubs fed by rail, with last-mile delivery using 7.5-tonne electric vehicles, point the way toward a decarbonized construction logistics system.