The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the River S ...

are on the opposite side of the Avon, within Avonmouth. The deepwater dock was constructed between 1972 and 1977, and is now a major port for the import of

motor vehicles A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such as airplanes ...

into the UK. The

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

runs nearby, and the huge car storage compounds around the dock are visible from the

Avonmouth Bridge The Avonmouth Bridge is a road bridge that carries the M5 motorway over the River Avon into Somerset near Bristol, England. The main span is long, and the bridge is long, with an air draught above mean high water level of . It also has a s ...

. A waste industrial area west of the port is being developed as the Portbury Ashlands Nature Reserve. The Royal Portbury Dock has the largest entrance lock into any UK port, accommodating vessels up to beam, length and draft.

Operator

The dock is now operated by The Bristol Port Company, which also operates

, and has done since 1991 when it purchased a 150-year lease from Bristol City Council. Between 2000 and 2002 the Portishead Railway was repaired and extended to the dock at a cost of £21 million.

Trades

Motor vehicles are both loaded and discharged, and stored on paved quay areas and storage compounds. In 2004, over 650,000 vehicles were handled. During 1996, the motor vehicle trade was awarded the International Quality Standard ISO 9002. Royal Portbury Dock can accommodate up to six RoRo vessels simultaneously. Aviation fuel tankers up to 120,000 dwt can discharge at the Bristol Aviation Fuel Terminal which opened in 2003, and feeds directly into the UK's pipeline and storage network. Coal and other bulk cargoes can be discharged with two continuous ship unloaders and two gantry grab cranes, allowing for 5,000 tonne per hour throughput. Since 2013 the wings for the Airbus A400M Atlas have left Portbury on three specialised

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

(one called the '' Ville De Bordeaux'') after travelling from the factory at

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton has la ...

. They go via St Nazaire to

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. This is part of the Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit transportation system. Containers and forestry products are also handled at the dock.

Technical

The port experiences the second largest tidal range in the world. The Portbury Dock, like Avonmouth Dock across the river, is impounded and the water level within each dock is maintained by lock gates and impounding pumps. The pumps maintain a minimum water level in the dock when water is lost to the sea through ships entering/exiting the dock.Pump Supplies ''www.pumpsupplies.co.uk''
Pump supplies Case Study
", accessed 9 October 2019 File:Portbury lock.jpg, The lock entrance to Royal Portbury Dock File:SWNS PORTBURY DOCKS 04.jpg, Cargo operations on the quay File:Emerald Leader (IMO 9361811) Portbury Dock 2022.jpg, Arrival of a vehicle carrier File:Containerships Borealis (IMO 9866249).jpg, Container ship in the dock

References

External links

The Bristol Port Company websiteUK Government DfT CasestudyPortishead and Bristol LifeboatPort of Bristol Authority archive collection
{{Transport in Bristol History of Bristol Transport in Bristol Ports and harbours of Somerset Ports and harbours of the Bristol Channel Port of Bristol Docks (maritime)

Operator

Trades

Technical

See also

References

External links