Dredging Olympic Freight Route

Land & Water Services was commissioned as a principal contractor by British Waterways on behalf of the Olympic Delivery Authority to enable 350t barges navigational access to the Olympic Park.

The operation was divided into two sections; dredging north of the newly commissioned Prescott Lock and tidal works south of the lock.

Dredging was undertaken using Land & Waters custom made lidded eco-buckets which hydraulically encapsulate sediment, reducing displacement into the water column. Dredged material was loaded by pontoon mounted excavators into Land & Waters Olympic hoppers. Non hazardous silts were transferred to 350t barges and transported by water to the Medway and re-used as restoration material. Non hazardous gravels and sands were transported to the Olympic Park for re-use.

Bioremediation of the hazardous silts off site enabled the material to be re-used for restoration proposes. Euston Arch stones within the freight route were carefully retrieved for Dan Cruickshank who is hopeful they will one day be incorporated as part of the Euston Station upgrade. In total over 27,000T of material was removed from the Freight Route of which over 85% was re-used. Land & Water Services were awarded the Environment Project Performance Team Award for this job.