Eurovia invest in Dagenham Dock wharf improvement

Company invests £450,000 in maintenance and improvement work at Thames wharf facility

LAST week Eurovia Roadstone were joined by Alistair Gale of the Port of London Authority (PLA) and Linda Potter of Armac Shipping to officially open the new and improved wharf at their Dagenham Dock site.

Eurovia Roadstone have invested a total of £450,000 in the maintenance and improvement of the Thames wharf at their asphalt plant. The wharf front is critical to the running of the asphalt plant, as over 90% of its primary aggregates are imported by water.

Ensuring access for shipping is safe and fully functional at all times is vital for the plant and the businesses that support it, including ships’ agent Armac Shipping Services and aggregate suppliers in the UK and Europe.

Utilizing the Thames to receive in excess of 200,000 tonnes of aggregate annually, Eurovia Roadstone save more than 8,000 lorry movements a year, reducing emissions and the company’s carbon footprint. This is particularly important as the plant is inside the Low Emissions Zone (LEZ).

The improvement works were put out to tender and Medtow Marine were awarded the contract owing to their experience and performance with a similar project at the Eurovia/Aggregate Industries joint venture – North Kent Roadstone.

According to Eurovia, Medtow Marine exceeded the design brief to provide a much more robust and longer lasting structure than had been envisaged. The new wharf frontage has a design life of 30 years.

Ensuring the wharf remained operational with minimal disruption so that Eurovia Roadstone could continue to receive aggregates was a significant challenge for the project and relied on all parties having a close working relationship and forward planning.

Likewise, working to accommodate tide times added a further complication, but again was overcome with careful planning.

Alistair Gale, director of corporate affairs and strategy for the PLA, said: ‘The Thames is a vital link in the environmentally friendly supply of building materials to the London and South East markets. Eurovia’s investment at Dagenham underlines their commitment to river operations as part of their supply chain.’