Anchoring Growth: Holcim UK Supports £10m Heysham Port Expansion
LOCATION
Heysham Port,
Morecambe, Lancashire, LA2 2XE
SECTOR
Infrastructure; Transport; Ports
CLIENT
Kiernan Construction
Peel Ports
PRODUCTS USED
Strike
Standard mix
THE BRIEF
Owned and operated by Peel Ports Group, the cargo, freight and passenger port provides access from the north west of England to the Isle of Man, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and operates roll-on-roll-off access to services provided by Stena Line, Isle of Man Steam Packet and CLdN.
The owners instigated a £10m project to increase the capacity and efficiency of the port, future proofing its operations and helping increase volumes.
Kiernan Construction were chosen to deliver a revamped trailer park, entrance and multi smart gate operating system.
As the site has to deal with hundreds of heavy duty articulated lorries on a daily basis, the client required a stronger and more durable roadway surface to handle the port’s traffic and they turned to Holcim UK to provide the solution.
Photo credit: Ant Clausen Photography/Peel Ports
What we achieved in numbers
4,500
Cubic metres of readymix concrete
30
Number of delivers made from Lancaster RMX plant
3,600
Cubic metres of speiclaist Strike concrete supplied
challenges
The client required a high volume of concrete over regular periods to keep the project on its tight schedule. This was against the backdrop of poor weather at the back end of 2025.
Due to it being a roll-on-roll-off port operation the road surfaces needed to be reinforced to handle the hundreds of HGVs that travelled through the site every week.
This coupled with the need to keep operations moving as best as possible meant a specialist concrete design would be required to meet the port’s needs.
Solution
Holcim UK designed a number of concrete mixes to meet the specified brief.
In total more than 4,500 cubic metres was delivered to site between April 2025 and May 2026.
As well as a standard CEM I concrete provided as general fill material, a specialist Strike concrete was designed to suit the project’s tight timeframes.
Strike is an early strength concrete which provides rapid strength to meet accelerated construction programmes.
Rather than taking up to 28 days to cure, Strike can take between 24 and 48 hours (Dependent on ambient temperatures) allowing it to be tracked upon within a much quicker time frame and cutting the project schedule.
The bespoke concrete design for this project also included the inclusion of reinforced steel fibres in the mix to provide increased strength and durability instead of the need to use extensive steel mesh.
Holcim worked with Fibre Concrete Solutions to develop the exact specification for the 3,000 metre cube needed to provide reinforced surface to support the heavily trafficked areas within the project. Every metre of concrete needed between 20-30KG of steel fibres mixed into it.
More than 30 deliveries were made to the port from Holcim’s Lancaster RMX plant over a 12 month period and the client utilised the Holcim + app to support the ordering of loads and to help them track deliveries to site.
Photo credit Ant Clausen Photography/Peel Ports
Photo credit Ant Clausen Photography/Peel Ports
Oli Lawson, Territory Sales Manager for Holcim RMX in the North West, said: “There is always a lot of pressure to deliver on projects like this, particularly when their construction schedule is so tight.
“We worked closely with the client to ensure we met their expectations and precise specification, designing a bespoke mix that would result in rapid strength over a shorter time span.
“The use of steel fibres within the mix provided the increased strength needed to cope with the demands of articulated lorries rolling on and off ships and also helped efficiencies on the project, replacing the need for lots of steel mesh to be inserted.
“The Holcim+ app was utilised during the lifespan of the project so the client could order and track deliveries - something that is hugely beneficial to tight time frames.
“For me it was one of the most challenging projects I have worked on but the end result was very rewarding.”
"We’d like to thank the Holcim team for their support of the Heysham Port project.
“The supply of the Strike 5.0 concrete with steel fibres and all other mixes was excellent throughout. The consistency of the mix, combined with the reliability of deliveries from the Lancaster plant, played a key role in keeping the programme on track despite the challenging conditions and tight timeframes.
“The fibre mix especially performed exactly as required, providing the strength and durability needed for such a heavily trafficked environment, and significantly improving efficiency on site.
“In addition, the service received from the Holcim team has been fantastic, from mix design through to delivery coordination. The use of the Holcim+ app was also a great support in managing orders and tracking loads.
“Overall, it has been a very positive experience working with Holcim on this scheme, and we look forward to working together again on future projects.”
Martyn O'Malley, Construction Director
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