POST-TENSIONED BEAMS FOR A MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Three major silos were erected as the centrepiece of large-scale wood pellet facilities at the Port of Tyne, a significant milestone in what is an important northern project.

The structures, each 36m (118ft) tall and 45m (147ft) in diameter, have been built by engineering specialist Spencer Group as part of a major, multi-million-pound contract awarded by Lynemouth Power Ltd. In due course, the silos will be topped off with “penthouse” structures housing the drive mechanism for the wood pellet conveyor system, taking the full height of the buildings to 45m.

The facilities at Tyne Dock in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, will handle up to 1.8m tonnes of wood pellets annually to support the full conversion of Lynemouth Power Station on the Northumberland coast from coal-burning to biomass.

The project will enable wood pellets to be conveyed mechanically to one of three newly-built silos, each capable of storing 25,000 tonnes of material. The pellets will then be discharged from the silos via two conveying streams to a rail-loading facility to take the material to Lynemouth Power Station by train.

Interspan completed large post-tensioned beams spanning 44 metres used to support the roof on three silos at the Port of Tyne in the northeast of England.

These beams were changed as part of value engineering carried out by Interspan and replaced steel beams.

The beams were built ground level adjacent to the silos and lifted into place.