DP World recently announced a major step forward for the capability of its Southampton terminal with the completion of the crane rail extension, which will allow the world’s largest cranes to service the full length of the quay.
Part of DP World’s £40mn (US$ 54.5mn) investment this year in Britain’s second largest container terminal, the 120m crane rail extension has foundations reaching 26m below the ground and took 16 weeks to build.
It will facilitate the movement along the quay of some of the terminal’s 12 Liebherr cranes which stand up to 130m high, with flexibility being the highest priority for the equipment.
Together with the granting of permission for a third berth to be dredged down to a depth of more than 15m, and the addition of a second empty containers park scheduled for September, the investment will take Southampton up to the next level as a smart logistics hub.
“The completion of the crane rail extension builds on the progress already made this year with the opening of a new Border Control Post and the dredging and widening work on a number of berths,” remarked Ernst Schulze, Chief Executive, DP World, UK. In March London Gateway and Southampton became the first deep-water ports in Britain capable of handling Freightliner’s new 775m intermodal container trains, which are the longest in use on the national rail network and generate significant cost and environmental benefits
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