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A New Crane at the Creek
01 Jun 2007
JJ Prior, the Essex based company which owns Brewery Wharf at Greenwich, London, has completed a major refurbishment of the facility in collaboration with Euromix Concrete Ltd.
Prior’s 300 ton motor barges deliver sand and aggregates to the wharf inside Deptford Creek from their own quarry at Fingringhoe on the River Colne.
The Stothert and Pitt DT2
crane with 4 ton capacity was purchased
in Northfleet and refurbished
at a total cost of £300,000. It was delivered to the site by
barge, towed by the tug ‘Horton’, and unloaded
onto new foundations at the
wharf. As shipping manager John Greenleaf pointed out, that was an
environmentally friendly way to conduct the operation. The crane also has an
historical connection to the old docklands where similar plant is kept as part
of the capital’s heritage.
The crane can unload a 300 ton cargo in about an hour. One advantage over the previous equipment is that it can reach out to second bottom, meaning that two vessels can moor up alongside the wharf Prior’s barges have been serving London terminals for many years, carrying sand and aggregates from Fingringhoe to a range of wharves.
They used to deliver to RMC sites at Battersea and Fulham until that company was taken over by the Mexican owned Cemex.
Mr Greenleaf is optimistic that works associated with the Olympic Games will revitalise traffic on the river. The new Prescott Lock on the River Lea will be navigable by Prior’s vessels and it is hoped that they will be discharging at new wharves in that area. In fact, one of the company’s skippers used to run up the River Lea in a tank barge so a return to those waters would be welcome and familiar.
By Graeme Ewens
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