Port of Tyne announces £10m expansion plans

The multi-million investment will take 12 months to implement from April 2006 in order to enhance the Port’s bulk handling capability on the main conventional cargo facility, ‘Riverside Quay’. This investment has been driven by the growing bulk import and export business, which includes significant tonnages of coal.

The expansion plans include the deepening of the berth and channel, an extension of the Port’s main cargo handling quay, investment into more operating equipment and the creation of a second rail siding. As Keith Wilson, Managing Director for the Port of Tyne, said, “The Port has undergone tremendous change over the last ten years in order to diversify and strengthen the business. Change and evolution are essential ingredients in taking the Port’s business forward and these expansion plans will continue to do just that.”

The main river channel from just outside the piers to Tyne Dock will be deepened from 8.6m below chart datum (CD) to 9.1m and Riverside Quay will be dredged from 10.5m CD to 12.1m CD. The deeper channel and berth along with the 60m extension to Riverside Quay, lengthening the quay to 580m, will enable the Port to accommodate larger ships up to handymax and panamax sized vessels.