Balfour Beatty, alongside EDF, has lowered the last of six head structures 25-metres to the bottom of the Bristol Channel at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station
The six head structures will be connected to the five miles of underground tunnels, allowing 120,000 litres of sea water to circulate every second. They will cap the tunnels supplying the two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C with cooling water.
The final 5,000 tonne concrete structure was towed out 30 nautical miles into the Channel to meet two floating heavy lift cranes “Gulliver” and “Rambiz”. The two cranes, with a combined lifting capacity of 7,300 tonnes then worked in tandem to place the cooling-water head structure onto the seabed.
Britain’s landmark nuclear power station will supply low carbon electricity to 6m homes
On completion, Hinkley Point C will supply safe, secure, low carbon electricity to around six million homes.
Roger Frost, project director at Balfour Beatty, said: “This is truly another incredible achievement for everyone at Balfour Beatty. When you think about the construction and infrastructure industry, you often think of buildings rising from the ground above you – but sometimes, it is what is beneath the surface, that can really make the biggest impact.
“The successful lowering of the head structures is testament to Balfour Beatty’s unique capability in heavy civil engineering as well as our approach to tackling each complex operations with unrivalled skill and precision.”
Ian Beaumont, marine work project director at Hinkley Point C, said: “The successful installation of all six marine heads completes a summer of complex offshore operations in the most challenging of environments.
“Not only is it a significant milestone for the Hinkley Point C project, it also represents an incredible feat of engineering by the teams that have worked in close collaboration to design, construct and place with such precision these massive structures.”
