The first ship has docked at Hinkley Point C’s now fully operational 500-metre long jetty, with the cargo vessel MV Aastan delivering roughly 6,000 tonnes of sand from Bristol Port.
Each delivery by sea will keep around 300 lorry loads off the roads. The jetty is expected to handle the equivalent of 100,000 lorry loads over its lifetime.
EDF Energy said the majority of aggregates used in the construction of the new nuclear power station will be quarried locally in Somerset.
Much of it will come from Hanson UK’s Whatley quarry near Frome, from where it can be directly transported to Bristol Port by rail before travelling the last 32 miles by boat.
The scale of the operation is such that Hinkley Point C has its own harbour master, Will Barker, who said: “The new jetty is part of our plan for helping the construction of Hinkley Point C to be both efficient and to lessen its environmental impact.
“The power station will play a major part in fighting climate change and its low carbon electricity will avoid the emission of over 600 million tonnes of C02. The jetty is an example of how we are making a difference during the construction phase too.”
EDF Energy said it also reducing the environmental impact of construction by using recycled industrial materials in its concrete mix, including ground granulated blast furnace slag – a by-product from steel manufacturing in South Wales that would otherwise be discarded as waste.