Construction and infrastructure group Morgan Sindall has been appointed to an £8.3m contract to construct new car storage and handling facilities at the Port of Southampton.
Port owner Associated British Ports (ABP) has commissioned the construction of the new multi-deck car storage facility to enable the port to handle greater numbers of cars, which are shipped to meet overseas demand. The port currently handles approximately 820,000 vehicles each year.
Morgan Sindall will build a 722, 581 sq ft six-level car storage facility, capable of handling 3,846 vehicles, at Southampton’s Eastern Docks. Work on the project has commenced and the scheme is due to be completed in April next year.
Nick Ridehalgh, ABP port director, Southampton, said: “The Port of Southampton contributes around £1bn to the UK economy and supports about 15,000 jobs.
“Our automotive business plays a significant role in delivering that success and we are committed to investing in world class facilities to support that trade and help it to grow.”
Morgan Sindall’s operations manager Neil Lord-Hatton added: “Southampton is the UK’s number one vehicle handling port and we’re delighted to be working alongside ABP to deliver this scheme which will have a positive impact on the Port’s ability to handle the huge numbers of vehicles it manages each year.
“The Morgan Sindall team has a good depth of experience working on schemes of this nature and has successfully delivered similar projects for ABP in the past so we’re looking forward to bringing that knowledge to bear on this project.”