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April 2008 - Update on Major Project Deliverables

Since its start date in June 2005 the IMPACTE project has seen progress in all of the Major Project Deliverables.

Small scale infrastructure development

Port of Southampton, UK - Container Loading Facility

Completed in June 2007, the project of extending and improving the rail loading area and the inclusion of a runaround loop to cater for trains of up to 445 metres in length has increased the capacity of the facility and allows a further 3-4 trains to be handled each day. This improved rail access is contributing to the upgrading of the rail link between Port of Southampton and the West Midlands to accommodate high cubed containers.
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Port of Ramsgate, UK- Deepening of maritime access

The size of the turning circle has been improved following a programme of 6 monthly dredging work programmes, this enables larger vessels to enter the port, thus ensuring for example that any future increase in the size of ferries currently using the port can still be accommodated.
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Port of Oostende, Belgium– New RoRo Berth

The new double deck RoRo berth for the line Oostende –Ramsgate has been connected to the quay and fenders positioned. The testing of the hydraulic and pneumatic engineering is completed. The new berth allows the existing route to maintain its current services and to deal with any future traffic growth.
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Port of Portsmouth, UK – Intermodal Railhead

Officially opened in November 2007 the development of the railhead provides one of the missing links in the intermodal transport chain between Italy and NW England. The terminal has generated eight permanent jobs at the terminal and provides the Port’s freight customers with a rail option from Port of Portsmouth for the first time in 30 years.
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Before
After


Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium – RoRo Berth with rail link

Following the successful tendering process for the demolition of berths 111-112 and the submission of plans that gained the building permit, the demolition work began in January 2008. The new construction work on the redevelopment of the port to accommodate modern RoRo vessels commenced in February 2008. The work is expected to be completed at the end of August 2008.
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Port of Calais, France – Motor Vehicle Platform

The recent participation of the Port of Calais is an exciting enhancement to the original IMPACTE project which substantially strengthens the project’s aim to achieve modal shift in freight transport. The investment to fit out 8 hectares of platform and to create a large new cars terminal able to receive all stock, currently located 6 km from the port berth, will cut down on transfer movements by truck between the current main parking area and berth thus reducing both air and noise pollution. The addition of a large capacity water treatment station will avoid any accidental pollution coming from the new platform. The final part of the project is a new rail link directly connected to the new car terminal.

Two studies: “The Calais Crane feasibility study” and “The Calais New Maritime Route” have been started. The first study is to investigate the possibility of refurbishing 2 cranes to enable them to handle containerised freight as the demand for the transport of bulk and conventional freight has fallen sharply. These would support the new rail connected berth and strengthen its multi-modal capabilities

The second study is investigating the development of new maritime routes as an alternative to using the roadways to and from the port for transportation of freight.

 

 

Action Plans and Strategies

Port of Dover, UK

Objective of study - To investigate reinstatement of rail-freight link to mainline network

The project has involved working with Network Rail in order to carry out a preliminary evaluation of the operational and engineering feasibility and a determination of outline costs and timescale for a rail connection into the Western Docks. Subsequently, a Development Services Agreement has been signed with Network Rail to reach a single costed solution including an ‘Approval-In-Principle Design’ covering all relevant disciplines associated with the rail connection (e.g. engineering, mechanical, electrical, earthworks, structures and equipment).



Port Clusters in a Socio-economic & Environmental Framework –University of Plymouth
Objective of study – To define the importance of port clusters on local economies in South West England

  • Cluster research methodology has been developed and questionnaire designed for ports survey. Use of both led to the completion of the survey and written paper on maritime cluster theory.
  • A survey has been undertaken on the social and economic impact of ports and its results have been written up.
  • Responses to the port profile survey have been received from South West ports
  • Import and Export data has been received from SW ports and comparative assessment completed.


The Economic Role of Ports - led by the Chamber of Commerce of West Flanders
Objective of study – To maximise the economic potential of ports by developing a ‘toolkit’ that can be used

  • To effectively demonstrate the socio-economic importance of the partner ports on a sub-regional, regional and national level
  • To illustrate the complex geographical and sectoral linkages that underlie the port sector; and
  • To assist with understanding the changing trends within the sector

And to identify

  • A port’s geographic extent and sphere of influence.
  • The nature and extent of co-dependency between a port and other businesses and industrial sectors.
  • Other direct and indirect linkages and associations the port sector has with other business and industrial sectors.
  • Research by the external consultants (ECSA, Eurotrans,Jonathan Packer & Associates and MDS Transmodal) has been coordinated into a study due to be completed in 2008.











Study of Short Sea Cross-Channel Traffic Flows of General Freight 2005-2020 - led by SEEDA
Objective of study – To draw up an action plan for the development of new Short-Sea Shipping services.

The study concerns the analysis of potential opportunities for new short sea shipping services.

The study seeks therefore to answer three key questions:

  • How can the existing traffic flows be defined in terms of corridors and commodities and what are the origins and destinations of these flows?
  • How are these corridor flows likely to develop up to 2020 in terms of commodity type and in terms of volumes, given likely trade growth and policy developments?
  • What new services could be developed to handle this traffic up to 2020?

Objectives, scope and methodology of the study were determined by external consultants MDS Transmodal who presented a draft of the study to IMPACTE partners in the form of reports in December 2007 and February 2008.





Maritime Network & Strategy – AMRIE
Objective of study – An integrated spatial strategy for the Channel Arc maritime region.

A draft outline development strategy was presented in June 2007 plus a revised version in September 2007. Contributions from partners in the form of data and comments will be integrated into the final report in 2008.