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DEME, in joint venture with Laing O’Rourke, to construct London Gateway Port. A new container terminal for DP World.

On the 8th of January an important breakthrough has been recorded on the “London Gateway Port” project as Port operator DP World commits itself to the foundation stage of its London Gateway project despite the market downturn. Whilst the joint venture Laing O’Rourke Infrastructure Limited – Dredging International NV (DEME Group) won the contract for the execution of this major new  port development project on the river Thames in the United Kingdom already back in 2008, the future of the project has been ever since under review. DP World’s decision to proceed with the construction of essential infrastructure for the planned port and logistics park opens the road to the actual start of the dredging works shortly.  

The new port development project is located at the former Shell Haven installations  about 25 miles downstream of the City of London.  The works under the revised scope have to be executed for the account of London Gateway Port Limited (DP World) for a total amount of GBP 400 million (€ 442 million). The works have to be completed in a period of 54 months from the start of dredging, that is by end 2014. A significant number of duty dredgers of the DEME fleet will be involved in the execution of this project.

The new London Gateway Port will be a state-of-the-art fully automated deepwater container port for the latest generation of container vessels.

The works include a quay wall of 1300 m and a new oil jetty of 300 m long, to be built by Laing O’Rourke with Bachy-Solétanche as subcontractor. The dredging and reclamation works include some 29 million m3 of capital dredging in the river Thames over a distance of approx. 100 km.

With the preparation works (soil investigations and the set-up of an impressive river monitoring system) executed in 2008 and 2009, DEME company Dredging International will start the actual dredging works in March 2010. Hydraulic works involving DEME specialists are the construction of bunds, slope protection works and the installation of erosion protection by means of FOSA-mattresses (Fibrous Open Stone Asphalt).

This project remains a major breakthrough for DEME’s position in the UK and offers valuable partnering opportunities with amongst others DP World for the future.

In recent years the DEME Group has been involved in a number of significant container terminal developments in Europe: the construction of the Le Havre Port 2000 (France), the construction of the Deurganck Dock in Antwerp (Belgium), a new container terminal in Fos-sur-Mer (France), the new Vuosaari port in Helsinki (Finland)..

About Dredging International

Dredging International is one of the operating companies of Belgium-based DEME-Group, a world leader in dredging, hydraulic engineering and environmental projects. Staff and crew at DEME amount to 3,700, working on the five continents. In 2008 DEME generated a turnover of 1,5 billion Euro and an operational cash-flow (EBITDA) of 302 million Euro. With 80 major dredges and some 200 auxiliary vessels, the group operates one of the most modern, performing and versatile fleets in the world.

For additional information: please contact Mr. H. Fiers at +32 3 250 52 20 or by

e-mail to fiers.hubert@deme.be