£600M CONTAINER TERMINAL INVESTIGATION WORK STARTS AT BRISTOL PORT

Jack up barge “Aran 120A” is now sinking boreholes and taking samples of the seabed in one of the most technically demanding civil engineering projects in the UK maritime sector.  The information from the samples will add to the Port’s existing records and give further certainty about the foundation for the quay wall and the material that will be dredged.  This additional knowledge is needed as the approaches to the terminal will be deep-dredged to allow the world’s largest existing and projected container vessels to dock at virtually any state of the tide.  At 18m the berths will allow continuous occupation and cargo operation. 

Simon Bird, Chief Executive of The Bristol Port Company, said: “We are delighted to mark this major milestone in the container terminal project today.  The first boreholes are being sunk to provide samples of the rock on which the terminal will be constructed. 

“This project is literally built on firm foundations – the physical rock that we are investigating today and our knowledge of the area as well as being the optimal UK location for a high technology deep water container port.  Government research shows there is going to be a significant demand for new container capacity but it makes no sense to put this in the already congested South East.  Bristol is closer to more inland container destinations than any other deep water port and, with direct rail and motorway access right at the port, we will give shipping lines and end customers significant CO2 and cost savings.”

Bristol Port recently appointed a consortium called Construct Bristol Terminal (CBT) under an early-contractor-involvement professional services contract to undertake the site investigation work.  The companies involved in the consortium are Costain, BAM Nuttall, Westminster Dredging and Van Oord.

Jimmy Burns, Area Manager for BAM Nuttall Limited said: ““It is great to be involved at the start of such a challenging and interesting project.  Our CBT Joint Venture is very well equipped to provide the necessary support to The Bristol Port Company in the development of the scheme and we are delighted to have been selected.”

The Harbour Revision Order, granted in March 2010, gave Bristol Port permission to build the deep sea container terminal able to handle up to 1.5 million twenty foot equivalent containers (teus) per annum.  The UK Government has identified a massive gap in port container capacity.  By 2030 the UK will need to be able to handle 20 million teus each year but currently the UK only has capacity for around 7.5 million boxes a year.