ABP Becomes Blade Front Runner In Hull

As Associated British Ports (ABP) continues to strengthen its reputation as a key player in Hull’s burgeoning wind turbine sector, HBPW has been helping the port operator take yet another step forward in the green revolution.

Siemens has created hundreds of new jobs on the east coast thanks to a £310m investment in offshore wind turbine production at Hull’s Alexandra Dock, delivering both construction and new supply chain jobs.

But the hyper growth in Humberside’s green sector has also boosted the need for more land on which to store wind turbine blades, some of which can be 80-90m in length.

Associate Paul Jacklin, explains more: “We were contacted by ABP in relation to a 25-acre site of undeveloped land at Hull’s Queen Elizabeth Dock, which they had in mind to use as a storage area for wind turbine blades.   

“However, when you consider that some offshore turbines not only have 90m blades but their total weight, including a huge supporting tower, can run into several hundred tonnes each.”

ABP asked the HBPW geotechnical team, led by Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Alana Millard, to carry out a ground investigation study across the entire site at Queen Elizabeth Dock, to determine the necessary parameters required for robust hard standing design.

“Working with a geotechnical contractor, who did the all the ground investigation works, Alana was able to produce a specification that supported the ground investigation study, and I am happy to say that we were collectively able to give ABP the green light to use the site for its planned purpose. Hard standings are now under development.

“This is a huge, emerging sector and, as the shift away from fossil fuels continues, it will become increasingly important so I suspect that we will see more and more jobs of this type over the coming years.”