News & Media

Canal barges designed and built to haul coal to Ferrybridge power station in the 1960’s have, in recent months, been used to fulfil an altogether different contract.

Our canals operation has had the task of transporting huge quantities of limestone from the LaFarge quarry at Cadeby, 7km up the River Don to the old Plant Works at Hexthorpe, Doncaster.

The contract is for the Woodford Group (Leeds), who are using the limestone to level a site for a large residential and industrial development.

Completion of the contract will have seen our barges deliver close to 250,000 tonnes of limestone. Sets of three barges, each capable of holding up to 170 tonnes, are coupled to Volvo-powered tugs – and each barge ‘train’ delivers the equivalent of 25 truck loads at a time.

There’s no doubt that there is potential for us to win more of this sort of work in the future. The Government and many UK companies are beginning to realise that canals offer the double benefits of reduced transport costs and very low carbon emissions.

From Moving Mountains: News from the Hargreaves Group, Issue 10