Following the acquisition of SGT by Frontier from Soufflet in 2021, the new owners moved quickly to invest in the future of the Eastern Docks Grain Terminal with a planned upgrade & modernisation of the facilities grain storage infrastructure & quayside rail mounted ship loader.
Acting as a southern UK hub, the Terminal, which is a major exporter of grains onto the world markets, can be found at deep water berth 36 within the ABP owned Port of Southampton.
It was originally built in the early 1980’s across two separate phases of civil engineering construction, by French & English contractors respectively with the second phase also including a 1000tph ship loading system.
Both concrete silo blocks incorporate a nest of hopper bottom silos constructed with the use of slip form civil engineering technology in achieving the resulting 30,000tonnes of total storage capacity.
In 1983 when fully complete & operational the Grain Terminal was officially opened by H.R.H Princess Anne who acting as President of Save the Children Fund, her welcomed presence highlighted the part played at the Port of Southampton in the export of grain to developing countries across the globe.
T H WHITE Projects were awarded the contract to act as the Principal Contractor covering the scope of works associated with the design, supply, installation & commissioning of the mechanical & electrical equipment involved in the upgrade of the Frontier Southampton Grain Terminal.
Following a thorough inspection, assessment & review of the facility, which was now some 40 years old, a scoping document & schedule of work was generated to address the necessary areas of repair, replacement & modernisation to upgrade the terminal in compliance with the latest engineering & operational design standards.
The ship loader has an interesting background & is worthy of adding into this document as a testimony to all parties involved throughout the years.
The Port of Tilbury London Ltd, located in the Southeast of England on the banks of the River Thames just downstream from the QE2 Bridge, is home to the UK’s largest import and export Grain Terminal. Handling approximately 2 million tonnes of cereals, pulses, and beans annually, the terminal plays a vital role in the country’s agricultural supply chain and the global food market, ensuring the reliable delivery of high-quality materials.
Originally constructed in the 1960s, the facility faced a major setback in July 2020 when a catastrophic dust explosion and fire severely damaged Silo 4. In response, the damaged silo was demolished to make way for a state-of-the-art rebuild adhering to modern safety standards, including ATEX compliance. The reconstruction project will include 30 hopper-bottomed concrete silos arranged in three rows of ten 7-metre-square cells, built using slip form technology. The work will proceed in phases, with 15 silos constructed in each phase.
This ambitious redevelopment marks the first construction of replacement concrete grain silos in a UK port since the early 1980s and represents a significant milestone for the Port of Tilbury. Following a competitive tendering process, the contract was awarded to P J Carey of Wembley, Middlesex, with T H WHITE Projects appointed as the Mechanical and Electrical sub-contractor. T H WHITE’s involvement spans early-stage consultancy to the delivery of a cutting-edge Silo 4 facility, combining advanced safety features, operational efficiency, and modern automation technologies. This project establishes a new benchmark for grain storage infrastructure in the UK.
A High-Capacity Conveying & Elevating Transfer Reclaim System At The Port Of Tilbury Grain Terminal
(Extension of Silo 3 Contract)
Customer Overview
The Port of Tilbury London Ltd is based in the Southeast of England and located on the banks of the River Thames just down from the QE2 bridge. Within the Port is the UK’s largest import and export Grain Terminal which is reported to handle approximately 2 million tonnes of cereals, pulses & beans per annum. The facility was initially constructed in the 1960s and plays a significant role throughout the global market in ensuring the food chain is reliably supported & supplied with on time quality materials.
Project Overview
The dust explosion within the Grain Terminal’s Concrete Silo No 4 brought with it the added problem that even with the steel Silo No. 3 complex fully erected and operational, the actual means of feeding & reclaiming grains from the new storage would not be possible. To make matters worse the belt conveying gallery around the concrete silos which feeds the mills of ADM & Allied plus the adjacent large 16,000 tonne bulk store had also been badly damaged and would be demolished entirely once the explosion damaged facility was removed.
To remedy the situation T H WHITE Projects engineered a solution in conjunction with the client for a new conveying and elevating system which would link the Grain Terminal Centre House to the steel silos, mill feed gallery and bulk store. As Phase 2 of the overall project, the transfer reclaim system would be designed and installed in tandem with the Silo 3 Contract whilst also within a very tight footprint allowing the reconstruction of the concrete grain Silo No4 alongside.
Customer Overview
The Port of Tilbury London Ltd is based in the Southeast of England & located on the banks of the River Thames just down from the QE2 bridge. Within the Port is the UK’s largest import and export Grain Terminal which is reported to handle approximately 2 million tonnes of cereals, pulses & beans per annum. The facility was initially constructed in the 1960s and plays a significant role throughout the global market in ensuring the food chain is reliably supported and supplied with on time quality materials.
Project Overview
Following the steel silo collapse in September 2018 and subsequent dust explosion and fire within the concrete silos in July 2020, phase one of the Terminal works, covering the rebuilding of the corrugated grain storage facility progressed. For site safety reasons whilst the adjacent concrete silo was being demolished under controlled conditions following the explosion, the CDM boundary and moving exclusion zone was established to allow the civil works and erection of the new silos to proceed.
The contract build programme with an end completion date of harvest 2022 was targeted for the filling of the new silos.
CUSTOMER OVERVIEW
Industry household names have joined forces to form a strategic partnership with the creation of Navara Oat Milling Limited to construction Europe’s largest Oat Mill. Market leaders Frontier Agriculture and Camgrain have combined in the formation of a joint venture between the organisations. The UK construction of Europe’s largest Oat Processing facility reflects the Navara wording that “British Oats Are Our Passion”.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The oat processing plant has been constructed on land alongside the Camgrain Advanced Processing Centre in a key arable region between Corby & Kettering. It heralds excellent transport links just off the busy east west A14 corridor and is currently discreetly located and hidden by existing topography and vegetation which will be further enhanced by the additional planting of 6,500 new trees & shrubs. Now fully operational the cutting-edge oat processing facility is poised to meet and even accelerate the already growing demand for oat ingredients associated with healthy products in the food & drink industrial sectors.
CUSTOMER OVERVIEW
Condimentum was created by the English mustard growers and Norfolk mint growers who had previously supplied Colman’s of Norwich prior to the closure of the City’s iconic and long-established 165-year-old factory. In collaboration with Unilever who now own the Colman’s brand, the Condimentum purpose-built facility, required to produce double super fine mustard and mint product was developed.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The new partnership with the local growers consortium Condimentum, has maintained this historic connection through the construction of a new green field site milling and mint processing plant at the Food Enterprise Park, Easton on the outskirts of the City of Norwich.
Kings Lynn has been a port town for many centuries, with longstanding trading links forged with North European countries and the Baltic States. It has a reputation for providing a flexible and professional service, regarding the specialist agricultural commodities originating from the region.
The 25,000 tonne Alexandra Silo complex, developed in conjunction with the client, represents a £3.8 million investment for Associated British Ports. It’s a ‘state of the art’ facility designed to answer to the need for a dockside facility capable of receiving “as grown” crops to be dried, processed, stored and then out loaded to either the sea or the road.
Openfield is one of the UK’s largest grain marketing and arable input businesses. The high capacity Seed Processing Plant was designed and constructed on a new concept basis and is now one of the largest and most modern seed plants of its kind in the UK, with one of the most strategic locations for distribution.
This £1.75 million facility has the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes of seed per annum, with peak processing capacity of over 500 tonnes of seed per day, ensuring fast turnaround.
Wiltshire Grain is a farmer-owned, professionally managed cooperative, run for the benefit of its members to add value to their businesses. The cooperative and central storage was launched in 1984 with just 52 members. The initial storage capacity of 20,000 tonnes was constructed by T H White Projects.
The first phase of new plant development followed in 1997 and various phases have followed. The facility now provides a 101,000 tonne capacity to 152 members. In recent years, European grant-funding was obtained, allowing for the phased design approach to be completed and future-proofed to support their steadily growing membership and, of course, the recent increase in supply demand.
Throughout the various phases, T H WHITE Projects conceptualised the designs, planned and implemented the build, whilst also acting as the principal contractor through the various commissioning and customer hand-over stages.
Angus Cereals is a farmer-owned, professionally managed cooperative, run for the benefit of its members to add value to their businesses.
This plant was a two-phase quayside development for Angus Cereals for the Port of Montrose on the east coast of Scotland. In recent years, the port has undergone considerable expansion, largely to serve the offshore oil industry. This sheltered haven at the mouth of the River Esk has excellent road and rail links in all directions, which made it the perfect choice for Angus Cereals for its grain facility.
As a quayside store owned by a farmer membership, Angus Cereals is another step forward as a strategically important store to capture value in the supply chain. As T H WHITE has a long history in the design and construction of large-scale grain handling and storage facilities, they were the obvious choice for this two-phase development.
