The harbour facilities at the Alcoa smelter in Baie-Comeau were built in 1957, at the same time as the plant. Over 50 years later, the three wharves have virtually exceeded their useful life. Furthermore, since their construction, they have faced inclement weather and several storms which ultimately led to the definite shut down of wharf no. 2 and to important restrictions on the use of wharf no. 3. Following large storms that hit the area in 2005, emergency work had to be undertaken to maintain operations until a definite solution could be found.

The wharfs are mainly used for receiving raw materials (alumina, coke, anodes, and petroleum products), shipping anode butts and, in lesser measure, shipping aluminum.

The overall objective of the project is to support the operations of the modernized plant with safe and modern harbour facilties, and to provide a sustainable environmental solution to the issue of contamination at Anse du Moulin.