Cemex to dredge Thames port

The dredging work will help ensure that the berths can continue to accommodate vessels from barges up to 100,000 tonne ships.

“Dredging maintenance is an essential part of our business, helping to ensure that we are accessible to the wide range of vessels calling at the riverside berths at the Port of Tilbury,” said Adam Montgomery, harbourmaster/asset manager marine at the Port of Tilbury.

“Working with the Cemex team was seamless, their knowledge and experience was invaluable to ensuring that this operation was carried out successfully again this year.”

Located 22 nautical miles east of central London, the Port of Tilbury has 56 berths, 31 working terminals, 10.2km of quay and 460,000sqm of warehouse space. With an annual throughput of 16 million tonnes it is the largest port on the Thames.

Cemex UK Marine used the charter vessel MV Reimerswaal, a 130m hopper dredger capable of carrying nearly 7,500 tonnes of materials, to dredge the Tilbury2 berth to a depth of 15 metres.

The Cemex team worked closely with the Port of London Authority’s Hydrographic department, who produced daily bathymetric pre and post dredge surveys.

Over the course of five days, the vessel successfully extracted over 20,000m3 of spoil from the berth, and disposed of it at an approved site, 40 miles outside of the Thames estuary.