Choosing the appropriate overall technical route is the key to the construction of automated container terminals. By sorting out the domestic and foreign current situation of the overall technical routes for the automated container terminals that have been built and are under construction，combining with the development level and trend of automation technology and according to the different in layouts，loading and unloading methods and isolation methods，this paper summarizes four typical overall technical routes for the automated container terminals，and introduces the characteristics and layout methods of various technical routes. Through the comparative analysis of the characteristics of transportation，land depth，storage yard capacity，construction cost and operation cost，this paper gives the applicability suggestions of various overall technical routes，which can provide references for the similar projects.