Our tailored rail logistics solutions and ability to deliver a high volume of aggregates helped to support the success of a major decommissioning programme in West Cumbria, UK.

The construction of Vault 9 at the Low Level Waste Repository was urgently required to keep the UK’s nuclear decommissioning programme on target.

The construction project demanded extremely reliable deliveries of over 140,000 tonnes of aggregates and other building materials. It was essential that this was achieved with minimal disruption to the rural local communities of West Cumbria.

The County Council approved a transport plan that specified 95% of all construction materials should be transported by rail, reducing the burden on the area’s challenging road network.

Working in close partnership with Network Rail, Aggregate Industries and the Port of Workington, DRS developed a seamless logistics solution. A ‘virtual quarry’ was established at Workington Port, utilising the DRS-pioneered technique of line side loading.

Network Rail granted DRS sole use of the West Cumbria rail network during the night, enabling construction materials to be transported without disrupting regular passenger services. In fact, no passenger services were adversely affected during the whole construction process.

The numerous benefits associated with the rail solution included:

• 10,851 lorry journeys taken off Cumbria’s rural road network.
• Supporting the local supply chain by using local quarries around the County.
• Reducing CO2 emissions by 1,264 tonnes and cutting pollution compared to road transport.
• DRS’ industry-leading ‘on time delivery’ record facilitated a reliable just-in-time aggregate supply programme that improved project efficiency.