Esso submits Fawley bridge plan to Hampshire County Council
A PLAN by Esso Petroleum Ltd to build a temporary bridge as part of major works at Fawley refinery has been submitted to Hampshire County Council.
The oil and gas company is investing £800m in a new hydrotreater and hydrogen plant, increasing production of low-sulphur products like diesel fuel, writes Natalia Forero of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The linkspan bridge attached to a Jack-Up Barge moored in the Solent will facilitate these works. Pre-assembled plant components from China – due to arrive in the UK in November – will be unloaded onto the bridge and transported to the refinery via the B3053.
As detailed in the planning application, the units cannot be unloaded at the power station’s dock due to the width of its entrance.
“The temporary bridge abutment can be installed and removed with little disruption to the area,” it states. “Once unloading is complete, the area will be returned to its pre-existing condition.”
Works are planned over a 30-day period between 11th November and 31st December this year.
The proposed scheme is located on the eastern boundary of the decommissioned Fawley Power Station, and it will be constructed in an area of derelict industrial ground outside the site’s boundary.
Esso states: “The proposed scheme is essential to delivering the works to the refinery. It will help facilitate the delivery of a more efficient operation at the facility, which in turn will continue to support the following social, economic, and environmental objectives of sustainable development.
“The temporary bridge abutment will support a construction works route that has been devised to minimise disruption on the local highway network, and will allow large modules to be safely offloaded.”
The Fawley complex occupies 13km², including a marine terminal handling around 2,000 ship movements annually. The refinery processes approximately 265,000 barrels of crude oil daily and provides around 20% of the UK’s refining capacity, supplying fuels, lubricants and petrochemical feedstocks.
