The Government funding will make a major contribution to the construction of new wharves and handling facilities at Ripple and at Ryall, which will cost in excess of £2.5m.

The new facilities will allow some 275,000 tons of aggregates to be moved each year between RMC's Ripple quarry and its handling facility at Ryall using 180 ton capacity barges. At Ryall the aggregates will be washed, screened and graded before 65,000 tons are transported to a ready mix concrete plant in Gloucester.

Ian Jarvis, general manager for British Waterways in the South West welcomed the grant, saying, 'In its hey-day during the Industrial Revolution the River Severn ferried produce and raw materials between the industrial Midlands and the docks at Gloucester and Sharpness. British Waterways is very pleased to welcome freight traffic back onto the River Severn, which is part of our national plan to grow freight traffic on our canals and rivers.

There is a role for waterway freight in alleviating traffic congestion and moving goods in an environmentally friendly way without compromising the waterways as an important national leisure and environmental asset.

MJ Information No: 19933