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Redevelopment of North East shipyard makes progress

A £980k package of civil engineering improvements to the former Swan Hunter shipyard in Newcastle has been completed.

The works are an early phase of a wider plan to breathe new life into the yard in Wallsend by developing it into a manufacturing park for the subsea and offshore sector.

Owen Pugh Construction, part of The Owen Pugh Group, carried out the contract which involved installing a new central access road, drainage and retaining walls at the site. Owen Pugh Civil Engineering secured the contract from Kier Group.

Kier Property is North Tyneside Council’s development partner for the Swans Enterprise Zone, delivering onsite infrastructure and marketing the site to occupiers.

Kier Construction is leading on the infrastructure works and subcontracted Owen Pugh.

Around 20 Owen Pugh staff, including sub-contractors, were involved during its peak.

The construction of the access road includes drainage works, laying kerbs and bituminous surfacing and associated work has included the demolition of disused workshops and buildings.

Owen Pugh has also been responsible for site clearance to increase potential development areas, paving the way to house more on-site engineering plots.

Lee Buchanan, operations manager at Owen Pugh Civil Engineering, said: “We are delighted to have been involved in this project to breathe new life into the Swan Hunter site, which played a significant role in Tyneside’s shipbuilding and marine engineering heritage.

“The central road installation along with demolition work will help to open up new plots for development by businesses in the offshore and subsea sector.”

Neil Hosie, contracts manager, Kier Construction, said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Owen Pugh on the first phase of these works. Their hard work has helped to deliver the access road that will be vital to the site’s regeneration.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Bdaily Publishing .