Cemex support Port of Tilbury with essential dredging work

Company’s UK Marine team provides essential maintenance dredging for largest port on the Thames

CEMEX have utilized the dredging expertise of their UK Marine team to support the Port of Tilbury with essential dredging to the working berths along the river Thames.

The work carried out by the Cemex team has helped ensure that the berths are maintained to their designated depths so that that vessels ranging from barges to 100,000-tonne ships can access the quayside.

Located just 22 nautical miles east of central London, the Port of Tilbury is one of the UK’s largest ports with 56 operational berths, 31 independent working terminals, 10.2km of quayside, and 5 million ft² of warehouse space.

The Port of Tilbury is also the closest port to the City of London and has an annual throughput of 16 million tonnes, with goods estimated to value around £8.7 billion, making it the largest port on the Thames and, therefore, essential for the continued supply of materials via shipment in and out of London.

The Port of Tilbury initially teamed up with the Cemex UK Marine team to explore whether they would be able to help with their requirements to dredge the Tilbury2 berth to a depth of 15m, within the capabilities of their current fleet. Using the charter vessel MV Reimerswaal, a 130m-long hopper dredger that can carry nearly 7,500 tonnes of materials, Cemex were able to carry out the work.

As a regular visitor to the river Thames and using the Masters Pilot exception certificate, the team were able to adapt the Reimerswaal’s usual schedule to undertake this project, allowing the work to be completed successfully, on time, on budget, and to the port’s specification.

The Cemex team worked closely with the Port of London Authority’s hydrographic department, which produced daily bathymetric pre- and post-dredge surveys. This allowed Cemex to fully understand the progress of the work completed against the project’s requirements.

Over the course of five days, the vessel successfully extracted more than 20,000m³ of spoil from the berth and disposed of it at an approved site 40 miles outside the Thames estuary.

Chris Grosscurth, commercial and logistics manager for Cemex UK Marine, said: ‘The project was a huge success and opens up many other opportunities for Cemex UK Marine, complementing our normal aggregate delivery work.’

Adam Montgomery, harbourmaster/asset manager marine at the Port of Tilbury, said: ‘Dredging maintenance is an essential part of our business, helping to ensure that we are accessible to the wide range of vessels calling at the riverside berths at the Port of Tilbury.

‘Working with the Cemex team was seamless; their knowledge and experience was invaluable in ensuring that this operation was carried out successfully again this year.’