New Immingham Port link officially opens
The £93.3 million scheme to improve access to one of the UK’s busiest ports has been officially opened at a ceremony on Friday 30 June.
Maritime Minister John Hayes MP was in Immingham to open the scheme which has provided vital transport improvements to reduce congestion and increase capacity for the 40,000 vehicles that use this route daily.
Immingham is the UK’s busiest port and currently contributes £460 million to the regional economy every year.
Right to Left: Highways England Project Manager Ben Ridgeon, Martin Vickers MP, Maritime Minister John Hayes MP, Highways England Regional Investor Programme Director David Haimes, Costain Group Strategy & Risk Director Matthew Harris and Costain Project Manager Craig Snow.
Maritime Minister John Hayes said:
I am delighted to open this fantastic new port link, a scheme which will significantly reduce congestion for tens of thousands of drivers and boost productivity across the region.
Ports like the one here in Immingham play a key role in the long term growth of the economy and provide essential access to global markets.
The scheme started in 2015 and in total a 3 and half mile stretch of the A180 has been improved.
The roundabout at Brocklesby Interchange has been upgraded providing access to and from the A180 and the A160 between Brocklesby Junction to Habrough roundabout has been increased from one lane to a dual carriageway.
The Port of Immingham is the UK’s largest port by tonnage and handles up to 55 million tonnes of goods every year, including nearly 20 million tonnes of oil and 10 million tonnes of coal.
At peak times 10 per cent of the traffic in the UK is lorries. On the A160/180 it is up to 70 per cent, with more than 100 abnormal loads a month, heading to and from the port.
Highways England Project Manager Ben Ridgeon said:
We are already seeing a reduction in congestion as a result of this project which we completed in March. It will provide vital transport improvements in this area by increasing capacity and boosting productivity in the area creating more jobs and greater investment.
We would like to thank drivers and the local community for their patience while this work has been taking place, and are pleased they can now benefit from the completed upgrade.
During Christmas 2015 contractors carried out a complex piece of engineering when they slid a 4,000 tonne bridge slid into place using hydraulic jacks weighing more than 5 tonnes each.
Contractors worked around the clock to install the bridge at Rosper Road under the railway line which carries freight trains between the Port of Immingham and Ulceby.
Aerial shot of the Brocklesby Junction at the A160/80 Port of Immingham improvement scheme.
Simon Bird, Humber Director at the port’s owner Associated British Ports (ABP) said:
The A160 road improvement works have already made a significant difference to the way we operate our port. ABP’s Humber ports currently contribute £2.2 billion to the region’s economy and ABP is continually investing in new infrastructure and equipment in order to expand our operations in Immingham. The newly established improvement works will help us to handle the additional traffic we expect to see come through the port.
Facts and figures:
- more than 1,700 staff worked on the project with over half of them living within the local area
- over 98% of the scheme waste went on to be recycled
- in a first for Highways England the scheme trialled innovative asset tagging technology to improve the monitoring and maintenance of highway equipment located along the road, such as street lighting and drainage
- the scheme has donated almost £30,000 towards the community with staff working on the project also spending more than 400 hours volunteering with local schools and charities; this included working with Cannon Peter Hall School to build bat and bird boxes with wood left over from the scheme
More details on the scheme are available at the road project website.