In 2019 we were approached by Balfour Beatty to make six new lock gates on behalf of Environment Agency and Port of Tilbury London Ltd. for The Tilbury Dual Function Lock Gates project. The Lock Gates delivered via TEAM2100, is a major joint project between the Environment Agency and The Port of Tilbury that will safeguard thousands of homes and businesses in the local area. The existing port lock gates will be replaced with dual function lock gates, and the Environment Agency’s tidal barrier will be removed. Once the work is completed it will ensure a high standard of flood protection for Tilbury and provide a new navigation lock for operations at the busy port.
Pit stop
Our work consists of preparation of fabrication drawings and manufacturing of these 6 lock gates. We manufacture the doors in 3 sets of 2 doors and we’ve already started the production of the middle two doors and the inner doors. First we make the middle doors, then the inner doors and then the outer doors. The first two doors will be shipped by us to England at the end of this year. On site, we lift the old lock gates out of the lock and install the new ones. It will be a pit stop as in Formula 1, in which we will replace the locks in an extremely short time. We have to minimize the impact on transport to and from the Port of Tilbury.
Good preparation and risk management
For the implementation of the project, there is a lot of emphasis on risk management and we ensure that the lock gates can be replaced smoothly. In order to limit the risks and prepare the operation properly, we take extra measures by bringing two spare hinge points, a pontoon to set up the old lock gates and we take a crane with us that will more than bear the weight of the old and new lock gates can wear. We do not expect any problems from the functionalities.
Photo: design photos of the locks with overview photo More information about the project:
Replacement Lock Gates Port of Tilbury (Tilbury Dual Function Lock Gates) – Hollandia
Photo of the start of the project in mid-March (kick-off moment) with (almost) all project members at an appropriate distance