Replacement Lock Gates Port of Tilbury (Tilbury Dual Function Lock Gates)

TEAM2100

Great Britain has been hit several times in the past decade by severe flooding, which in addition to nuisance for residents also caused considerable material damage. TEAM2100 is the Environment Agency’s 10-year programme to refurbish and replace tidal flood defences in London and the Thames estuary. TEAM2100 will carry out the first part of the Environment Agency’s Thames Estuary 2100 Plan, which sets out how to manage tidal flood risk in the Thames estuary throughout the 21st century.

Tilbury Dual Function Lock Gates-project

The Tilbury Dual Function Lock Gates project, delivered via TEAM2100, is a major joint project between the Environment Agency and The Port of Tilbury to replace that will safeguard thousands of homes and businesses in the local area. The existing port lock gates will be replaced with pioneering 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.

Pioneering dual function lock gates

In 2019, Hollandia Infra was approached by Balfour Beatty to make six new lock gates for the UK’s Rijkswaterstaat Environment Agency (EA) at the Port of Tilbury. The replacement of the lock gates is part of the TEAM2100 project, where the EA wants to manage the risk of flooding in the mouth of the River Thames until the year 2100. The double-acting barrier in Tilbury will consist of 6 steel gabled doors. Hollandia Infra supplies a total of 6 steel pointed doors with the pivot bowls and neck brackets for this new storm surge barrier or lock. The doors will be placed in 3 sets of 2 doors, with the 2 outer doors on the Thames side also having a reversing function. These 2 “outer gates” are therefore provided with “barriers”. They use this to stop the water from the Thames in case of high water.

What is happening on the Hollandia Infra site

The actual contract was signed in 2020. Our work consists of manufacturing the 6 lock gates for the Port of Tilbury. First, we started making an executive design and preparing for manufacturing. In the meantime, the manufacturing design for our delivery of the 6 lock gates for the Port of Tilbury has been largely completed and we started production of the two middle doors in mid-March. We manufacture the doors in 3 sets of 2 doors. We make, as indicated, first the middle, then the inner, and then the outer doors.

Pit stop

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. This is done in a very short period of time, to minimize obstructions from the busy Port of Tilbury. Compare it to a pit stop in Formula 1, in which all parts have to be replaced in no time because there is no time to lose and we want to keep the impact on port transport to and from the Port of Tilbury to a minimum. In total, the 6 doors will be installed by May 2022 and the work can be handed over to the Environment Agency.

Good preparation and Risk management

For the implementation of the project, there is a lot of emphasis on risk management to ensure that the replacement of the lock gates runs smoothly. In order to limit the risks and prepare the operation properly, we firstly include two spare pivot points. In addition, a pontoon is ready to transport the old lock gates. Finally, we take a floating trestle with us that can comfortably bear the weight of the old and new lock gates.