Camberley, 20 March 2017 - Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) has appointed one of the UK’s leading civil engineering companies, BAM Nuttall Ltd, as the main contractor for a £10 million project to provide the commercial port with a new 200 metres long deep water quay.
The new quay will need approximately 1,800 tons of steel piles, all of which will be delivered by sea. In addition, the majority of the material reclamation fill is to be taken directly from the port’s maintenance dredging scheme. This approach removes the need for road deliveries and uses a ‘waste’ product in the new construction. And, in order to ensure that local companies benefit from this project, all marine plant has been sourced from suppliers in Poole and Southampton.
The project, which is due for completion by the end of 2017, will ensure that the Port remains competitive with facilities that can accommodate a much wider range of shipping and marine activities.
‘This is an important step forward in the expansion of the Port’, said Jim Stewart, PHC’s Chief Executive. ‘It means we will be able to accommodate vessels up to 220 metres long in a variety of different sectors including yacht transportation, bulk cargo, short sea containers and project cargo. As a result, we expect to see up to a 50 per cent increase in tonnage in cargo across the quays.’
‘It will also allow us to take advantage of the rapidly expanding cruise market. At present we can only take smaller cruise ships but, with these new facilities, we will be able to accept visiting cruise ships accommodating over 1,000 passengers. All this means we will be able to strengthen links between the Port and the local economy, in particular the significant cluster of marine related and tourism industries in the Poole area’, he added.
Richard Hayman, Contracts Manager at BAM Nuttall Ltd, commented: ‘We are delighted to have secured this prestigious contract and to have the opportunity to continue our long and successful history of working in the port. We are looking forward to working in collaboration with PHC and the local community to safely deliver Poole Harbour’s new South Quay.’