New dredging contract for British Waterways
After a competitive tendering process, British Waterways (BW) has awarded a national dredging contract to marine civils contractor Land & Water Services Ltd.
The initial contract from December 2010 to March 2015, will run up to and beyond the launch of the new waterways charity which is scheduled to take over the custodianship of BW’s canals and rivers in 2012.
Increasing the forecast spend on dredging in each of the next two financial years to £5m, the award of a single national contract to Land & Water will allow BW to deliver more dredging for the investment available.
Whilst still to be finalised, 2011 dredging priorities are likely to include the Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Farnhill and Bingley, stretches of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal and the Aylesbury Arm of The Grand Union Canal.
Ian Marmont, national dredging manager at BW said, ‘Funding in the public and charitable sectors over the next few years is going to be particularly tight and we must ensure that we get the absolute maximum benefit from the money available. With plans to prioritise spend on dredging in each of the next two years, this national contract with Land & Water is welcome news for the waterways and those that use and enjoy them.’
James Maclean, managing director of Land & Water Services said, ‘This single source contract award is a reflection of the long term partnership we have been developing and investing in with British Waterways for more than 15 years. We have always believed in the philosophy of working together and we welcome the incentives in our new contract to find ever greater efficiencies, increase recycling opportunities, and reduce the environmental impact of our joint operations. This longer term commitment provides us with a trigger for further investment in vessels and technologies that will ultimately benefit the UK’s canals and rivers in the longer term. We are grateful indeed for this opportunity.’
Land & Water has also been dredging and improving London’s River Lee to provide the route for 350 ton barges to carry bulk freight into the Olympic Park. This was the first project where Land & Water introduced its new Olympic Class barges, specifically designed to carry maximum capacity in shallow draft waterways. Land & Water also introduced its own marinised version of a Trimble DGPS excavation and positioning system.
