Building the futuretm

Transcription

1 Building the futuretm MARINE AGGREGATE SOLUTIONS

2 Marine Aggregates Aggregates from the seabed satisfy a significant and expanding proportion of the UK s requirement for these most fundamental of construction materials. Over 20% of the nation s demand for sand and gravel is now met by marine aggregates and CEMEX UK Marine Limited is one of the country s leading exponents of sourcing and supplying these materials. Founded over 50 years ago, the company has amassed a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise that, in the marine aggregates sector, is second to none. From its base in Southampton CEMEX UK Marine operates throughout the UK s coastal waters and the adjacent coast of Europe, spanning the Bay of Biscay to the Baltic. In common with land-based aggregates, the markets are geographically determined by the proximity of demand centres to the wharves where these materials are landed. CEMEX UK Marine s principal UK market areas reflect the company s own development and expansion over many years. The South coast was the traditional home territory of South Coast Shipping; the East and North East coasts the former base of East Coast Aggregates; South Wales with the Bristol Channel was developed by British Dredging. RMC Marine was formed by mergers in the 80 s and 90 s of these companies and was the forerunner of CEMEX UK Marine Ltd. As the company has expanded its capability, its area of operation has increased considerably. In addition to the UK the Near Continent now represents an important market with CEMEX UK Marine supplying sand and gravel to Holland, Belgium and Northern France. This area of operation is extensive and illustrates a growing capacity to service a geographically diverse and disparate market place. Products supplied range from sand to 40mm gravel with these materials being used in a wide variety of construction products, particularly concrete, and applications including major civil engineering projects such as land reclamation and beach replenishment. CEMEX UK Marine s ability to supply quality materials and to provide a consistently reliable service is due to considerable investment in vessels and equipment. However, this hardware depends on efficient and effective operation by highly trained and extremely professional people. CEMEX UK Marine prides itself on the quality of its staff, their ability to deliver and to develop mutually beneficial and durable relationships with customers and clients. In the UK, CEMEX is a 1bn turnover building solutions business and a leading provider of Readymix concrete, aggregates, cement and asphalt with over 500 locations across the country ensuring quality supply of local materials. CEMEX UK also has a significant share of the roof tile, concrete-block paver and concrete block markets, and is the leading supplier of concrete sleepers to the UK's rail industry. Sand Wren, one of the early vessels 02 03

3 Exploration CEMEX UK Marine ensures the future supply of quality aggregates for customers in all its market areas through a continuous programme of prospecting designed to secure licences to extract sand and gravel within economical distances of its markets. This programme utilises a range of techniques and equipment including shallow seismic and side scan sonar surveys. These methods are designed to locate submerged areas of sand and gravel deposited by rivers and glaciers many thousands of years ago. The granting of licences is strictly controlled by Government. Only a tiny fraction of the UK s coastal area is so licenced, and only a small proportion of that is worked in any one year. GATESHEAD JARROW TEESIDE HULL HARLINGEN AMSTERDAM BRITON FERRY CARDIFF NEWPORT AVONMOUTH SOUTHAMPTON POOLE COWES ANGERSTEIN NORTHFLEET PURFLEET SHOREHAM DOVER BRUGGE OOSTENDE DUNKIRK ROSCOFF LE HARVE FECAMP VATTERVILLE Operational area Licenced areas (not to scale) Head office 04 05

4 The fleet The Sand Falcon The fleet consists of seven vessels varying in cargo capacity from 750m 3 to 5000m 3. This range of capacity provides a high degree of flexibility and enables the fleet to service a wide variety of contracts and gain access to the smallest wharf. With large capacity vessels like the Sand Falcon and the Sand Fulmar, loading and discharge can be achieved in three to four hours. These exceptional turnround times reduce journey cycle times and thus, where required, enable large quantities of material to be supplied rapidly. This can be particularly important for projects such as large land reclamation schemes. Sand Harrier Sand Heron Sand Weaver A dredger such as the Sand Falcon represents an investment in excess of 20 million and exemplifies the speed, capacity and capability of today s dredging fleets. SAND FALCON SPECIFICATIONS Length (m) Beam (m) 19.5 Loaded draft (m) 7.8 Service speed (knots) 13.0 Crew complement 11 Normal dredging depth (m)* 49.6 Average loading time (hrs) 4 Hold capacity (m 3 ) 5000 Average discharge rate (m 3 /hr) bucket wheel 1500 hydraulic 2000 Sand Falcon Welsh Piper This illustration shows trailer dredging where the vessel trails a pipe along the seabed at speeds approaching 1.5 knots. Powerful pumps are able to draw 2600 tonnes of material an hour from depths of up to 50 metres. *This class of ship to be converted to enable dredging depths of up to 50m Sand Fulmar Sand Serin VESSEL LENGTH (m) BREADTH (m) ARRIVAL DRAFT (m) CARGO CAPACITY (m 3 ) DISCHARGE METHOD/RATE CONVEYOR LENGTH (m) Sand Falcon Pump&bucket wheel/2000t/hr 14.0 Sand Fulmar Pump & bucket wheel/200t/hr 14.0 Sand Harrier /2700 Pump&bucket wheel/2000t/hr 14.5 Sand Heron /2700 Pump&bucket wheel/2000t/hr 14.5 Sand Weaver /2300 Pump&bucket wheel/2000t/hr 15.0 Sand Serin Crane discharge/450t/hr 14.0 Welsh Piper Drag Scraper/765t/hr

5 Products and uses Beach replenishment Dredged material is discharged at the network of wharves and can then be processed, screened and washed if required, depending on the final use of the material. Ready mixed concrete and pre-cast concrete products manufacturers are the major users of marine aggregates and dredged material can provide specific advantages over some land won materials. For example, marine gravels have generally become more rounded due to the action of the sea and this contributes significantly to the workability of the concrete, thereby reducing the water:cement ratio. This in turn leads to higher compressive strength and greater durability of the concrete. The quality standards operated by CEMEX UK Marine are rigorous and in place to guarantee customers the quality and consistency of the products and materials available. In addition to the concrete sector, dredged materials can be used in a wide variety of applications including block and tile manufacture, asphalt products, drainage, bulk fill materials and land reclamation projects. Many hundreds of millions of tonnes of marine aggregates have been used in construction materials and projects like infrastructure, schools and hospitals, stadia, commercial and residential buildings over the years to great and long lasting effect. Coastal erosion is a persistent and growing problem as sea levels continue to rise. The maintenance of the coastline and its protection can be achieved in a number of ways, with beach replenishment providing an extremely effective solution in many cases. The movement of beaches can be arrested by the construction of groynes and the creation of spending beaches to dissipate wave action. This can require the introduction of large quantities of material. The delivery of this material by ship is the ideal solution. Not only is the most appropriate material used to nourish and replenish the beach, the alternative of large numbers of lorries and the associated disruption is removed. The material is normally discharged onto the beach direct from the dredger through a floating or submerged pipeline. An alternative is the use of splitter barges which place the material on the beach at high water. CEMEX UK Marine has considerable experience in this activity and has supplied a significant number of major replenishment contracts, including more recently: LOCATION YEAR QUANTITY in m 3 Whitstable ,000 Southwold ,000 Heacham ,000 Tankerton ,000 Skegness ,000 Southend ,000 Skegness/Mablethorpe ,000,000 Clacton ,000 Minehead ,000 Tankerton ,000 Sandwich ,000 Hythe ,200,

6 Environmental care and responsibility At a time when environmental awareness is of considerable and increasing importance, aggregate producers of both land-won and sea dredged materials are themselves acutely aware of their responsibilities. Sand and gravel deposits within licenced areas are carefully targeted so that the area dredged at any given time is kept to a minimum. CEMEX UK Marine participates in a BMAPA*/Crown Estate commitment to review all licences over a rolling five year period, surrendering areas no longer containing useful sand and gravel resources. Permission to dredge marine aggregates has to be obtained from the relevant Government department in England or Wales. In common with planning permission for land-based extraction, the process for gaining a marine aggregates dredging permission is both rigorous and extensive. Permissions will only be granted after wide consultation with relevant agencies, authorities and other sea bed users. Consideration is given to the possible effects on marine biology, fishing grounds, fish spawning areas, nature conservation, archaeology and navigation. Each application is accompanied by a detailed Environmental Statement prepared by specialist consultants. and Wales are required to be equipped with a Crown Estate Electronic Monitoring System (CE:EMS). This records the position and dredging status of a vessel every 30 seconds whilst the dredge pump is running and this data is analysed by the Crown Estate every month. Positioning of the vessel is achieved by a highly accurate satellite navigation system known as DGPS. It is of course accepted that dredging disrupts the seabed; however, detailed studies reveal that the effects of this disruption on marine life are generally relatively shortlived and confined to within a short distance of the location of dredging. The industry in general, and CEMEX UK Marine in particular, pursues the discharge of its environmental responsibilities with determination. CEMEX UK Marine has provided sea-bed survey data to support marine research programmes undertaken by a variety of institutions and participates in the protocol for reporting finds of archeological interest issued by BMAPA and English Heritage. It actively engages with other sea-users and organisations with marine interests through various networks and liaison committees. *British Marine Aggregate Producers Association Once a permission is granted, a licence may be obtained from the landowners, generally the Crown Estate. Licences will include any mitigation and monitoring measures required by the regulatory authorities. To ensure compliance, all vessels working in England 10 11

7 CEMEX is a progressive, growing and forward-looking company. Our aim is to be the number one building solutions company in the UK in terms of quality, technical excellence and customer service. CEMEX Building the future For more information on any of the products and services included in this brochure please contact us: CEMEX UK Marine Ltd Baltic Wharf, Elm Street, Marine Parade, Southampton SO14 5JF Tel: Fax: The information contained in this publication was accurate at the time of production, however CEMEX reserves the right to introduce modifications or changes to detail at any time, as part of a policy of continuous improvement. This paper is produced from pulp sourced from properly managed sustainable forests, is elemental chlorine free, uses up to 20% best white waste and is totally biodegradable.