UK: Hanson to develop Victoria Deep Water Terminal

Hanson (HeidelbergCement group) is planning to invest GBP12m at its Victoria Deep Water Terminal (VDWT) on the Thames at Greenwich, UK, to upgrade and improve the site. A planning application has been submitted to the Royal Borough of Greenwich along with a full environmental impact assessment.

Hanson is proposing to replace two existing concrete batching plants with three new ones enclosed within a building. This new building will also house the raw materials for concrete production, principally sand and gravel, currently stored in open bays. The VDWT on the northwest side of the Greenwich peninsular off Tunnel Avenue is an important strategic site which is safeguarded as an industrial wharf in the London plan and the Greenwich local plan.

The extensive waste recycling operation operated by a third party will be terminated and the site cleared, eliminating all associated heavy goods vehicle movements. The temporary office buildings and parking areas will also be removed. In addition, the Thames Path, which runs along the wharf front, will be segregated from the site, resurfaced and extended to a width of six metres to allow it to be used safely by both cyclists and pedestrians.

Hanson spokesman David Weeks said: "These changes will provide significant visual, air quality and efficiency improvements and reduce heavy goods traffic by over 100 vehicles a day. They will also allow us to make better use of the river to transport raw materials and finished products."

He said the new concrete plants would play an important part in the redevelopment of the Greenwich peninsula and also make precast concrete structures for major infrastructure projects in the capital including the Thames Tideway Tunnel, Silvertown Road Tunnel and Crossrail 2.

Artict's impression of the modernised terminal