Water-borne freight services have begun on the River Severn

after a 10-year hiatus

Partners: British Waterways, CEMEX UK Construction Services Ltd, Thompson River Transport

Sea and Water members’ British Waterways and Thompson River Transport have facilitated an environmentally-friendlier means of transporting CEMEX construction materials for the local market; via water rather than by road.

In March 2005 the River Severn was used for the first time in ten years to transport CEMEX’s quarried products on specialist (180-tonne) barges (Perch and Chub) operated by Thompson River Transport. This freight activity is culminating in the transportation by water of 200,000 tonnes (a year) of sand and gravel.

The aggregate is extracted from a quarry near Ripple and transported by barge, two miles north to CEMEX’s Ryall Plant near Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire on average four-to- seven-times a day. There the aggregates are washed and separated into various grades. It is intended that there will be a twice-weekly service whereby some 65,000 tonnes (a year) of newly-processed material will be loaded back onto the barge and transported down the River Severn via the Sharpness Canal and Gloucester Docks to CEMEX’s Ready Mixed Concrete plant two miles south of Gloucester.

The concrete is then used for locally based, construction projects within a 10-mile radius of CEMEX Ready mixed plant. CEMEX chose modal shift from road onto water because it was a commercially sound and an environmentally-sustainable solution. The development of quarrying activity at Ripple would have had the adverse effect of increasing the number of lorries traveling on local country lanes. The solution was to maximize the nearby river as the principal mode of transport. In the future there may be an opportunity to extend the river-transportation service upstream to incorporateour plant at Worcester.

Environmental benefits

The new water-borne service has ensured that:

 When Perch and Chub carry out four-sailings-a day it is the equivalent of taking 116 (25-tonne) round-trip lorry journeys off the roads. (Barges 180-tonnes x two x four = 1440 tonnes a day) (Road haulage 1440 tonnes / 25 tonnes x two trips per delivery = 116 journeys)

 The elimination of the lorry journeys means that issues such as road accidents, noise, congestion, vibration and the use of the aggregates in the road are reduced as a result of this new freight service. Barge transport reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other toxins. Each barge requires 90-litres of gas oil @ .13 of a litre per tonne to operate. Barges consume 50 times less fuel than the road fuel required by a single lorry

Investment

To facilitate the new river-borne freight service several million pounds have been invested in the infrastructure to ensure the sustainability of the service.

Freight Facilities Grant

CEMEX applied for, and secured, a 1 million Freight Facilities Grant from the Department for Transport and used it to establish the handling equipment at its wharves at Ripple and Ryall.

Individual investment

The partners investment contribution was equal to:

 CEMEX funded over 2 million to match the government’s grant and develop the infrastructure.

 British Waterways invested 300K by dredging the Gloucester docks and improving the lock gates.

 Thompson River Transport invested 300K in two motor barges: Perch a former mud hopper and Transient which has the capacity to carry 558- tonnes of cargo.