The Port of Tyne has appointed Southbay Civil Engineering as its main contractor for the £25m extension of Riverside Quay, the port's deep-sea facility at South Shields.
The main contract involves more than 300-metre of quay work, including a 125-metre quay extension, an upgrade of 118-metre of existing quay and 90-metre of quay wall renewal at the former McNulty site. Some 240 steel piles up to 33 metres long and weighing up to 21 tonnes each will be needed to support the new quay. They will be driven into the river bed over the course of the project.
Southbay, a local company, won the contract in competition against international contractors.
Among the cargo to be imported through the expanded port will be wood pellet to fuel power stations that have been converted from coal to renewable fuels.
Port of Tyne chief executive Andrew Moffat said: "On the back of growth in volumes over the past few years we are investing in new infrastructure to make sure the port is able to meet the needs of both our existing and our future customers. This is the biggest single investment we have made since we built Europe's first purpose-built wood pellet facilities back in 2010 and it will significantly increase the port's capacity to handle increased volumes of cargoes. Extending the length of the quay will increase the berthing capacity by almost 20% enabling up to four large cargo ships to berth simultaneously.”
Enabling work began in June 2014 with £3m spent on underwater preparatory works and roads built within the port to reduce construction traffic outside and minimise disruption to neighbouring businesses and residents.
Southbay Civil Engineering managing director Paul Stephenson said: "It is fantastic to be part of this project to bring the Port of Tyne the vital flexibility it needs to continue to win business, supporting jobs and the northeast economy."
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