Blackhill Engineering has delivered the final 8.5 tonne steel pile cap under its largest contract to date – manufacturing steel fabrications for the Hinkley Point C jetty development at Bridgwater Bay.
Blackhill is part of Devon headquartered engineering services company, SC Group, and the contract was the group’s first as part of the local HPC supply chain.
The Exeter based heavy engineering subcontractor has a unique 50 tonne lifting capability in the South West of England, which helped secure the contract. This is the company’s largest ever project in terms of tonnage involving over 650 tonnes of steel. Blackhill fabricated the 30 steel caps required for the piles supporting the top of the jetty and the 48 steel bridge beams spanning the piles, some measuring up to 14 metres long.
The temporary jetty, which will extend 500m into the Bristol Channel, is designed to shift freight movement of cement, sand and aggregates away from local roads to more sustainable sea transportation. Some 80% of the aggregates needed to build Hinkley Point C will be delivered to site via the jetty.
Nigel Cann, Hinkley Point C Programme and Construction Delivery Director, said: “The jetty will allow us to bring significant volumes of construction materials to the site by sea as part of our transport strategy of minimising traffic on local roads. The temporary jetty is a vital part of that plan as every shipload will take the equivalent of 250 lorry-loads off the local road network”.
“We’re also pleased that a local Devon company is part of the team of south west firms helping to deliver a vital part of the UK’s infrastructure.”
Nick Ames, Chief Executive of SC Group said: “This project has been a major success for Blackhill Engineering, which has performed superbly in delivering the project. Blackhill is ideally placed in terms of its heavy engineering capacity and location to provide the fabrication services required by HPC’s local supply chain and other major contractors in the nuclear and energy sector. I have also been delighted that SC Innovation, another of our Group companies, has been able to bring its skills to the fore here, with the provision of Engineering Design and Project Management Support.”
The contract represents a further breakthrough into the nuclear sector for Blackhill, which has also completed its first contract with Magnox to manufacture equipment to support nuclear decommissioning work at their Winfrith site in Dorset.