Ten giant metal silos have been built at the Port of Tilbury following an explosion and fire which damaged part of its grain terminal in Essex, England, on July 3, 2020.
With a height of almost 100 feet, and a total combined capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes, the silos are said to be built to an "industry leading design," and the port says they will be back in operation for the 2022 harvest.
Demolition of the damaged concrete silos at the terminal is also now complete and the port will shortly appoint a contractor to replace these concrete silos for a return to full operations in 2023, restoring the original storage capacity.
“The terminal is a key facility in the South-East of England and an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports," says Peter Ward, commercial director at The Port of Tilbury.
"These new metal silos will be ready for the 2022 harvest and once the concrete silo is rebuilt, the terminal will be back to full capacity on one site. Although there has been no interruption to our service throughout the rebuild, we would like to thank our customers for supporting us during this difficult period as we rebuild the facility.”
Throughout the works there has been no interruption to customer service as the terminal remains fully open for import and exports and once complete, the terminal will be restored to its full storage capacity of 135,000 MT and continue to benefit from the full multimodal services at the port including river barge transportation into central London.
