Barking Riverside pier, London, UK

NEC has been used to create a vital new transport link to serve over 10,800 new homes being built on a brownfield site in east London, UK. Barking Riverside Pier connects the former Barking power station regeneration site on the north bank of the tidal Thames with Woolwich on the south bank and central London via a fast-ferry service.

Client Barking Riverside, a joint venture between Greater London Authority and London & Quadrant Housing Association, let the £7.3 million project to contractor McLaughlin & Harvey under an NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option A (priced contract with activity schedule) in July 2021. The NEC project manager was Beckett Rankine and design was by Anthony Carlisle Architects.

Old coal jetty

The work involved reusing an old concrete ‘T’ jetty built in 1940s for coal barges supplying the former coal-fired power station, which was closed in 1981. A 100 m long boardwalk was installed 0.5 m above the existing jetty deck to provide a flood-resilient pedestrian and cycle access from the shore, and a 63 m steel link-span bridge was installed to join the jetty to a new steel pontoon.

The link-span and pontoon, complete with a high-quality steel, glass and timber waiting room, were manufactured in the Netherlands by Ravestein BV and delivered to site by crane barge. Two guide piles secure the jetty while two berthing piles provide space for two vessels to moor at the same time.

Uber Boat by Thames Clippers services started in April 2022 and now run at 20 minute intervals in peak periods, providing a 9 minute journey to Woolwich and 51 minute journey to the City of London. Over 100,000 passengers used the pier in its first ten months of operation. The contract, which concluded with fencing, landscaping and surfacing works, was completed to the agreed programme and budget in July 2022. It was shortlisted for Transport Project of the Year in the 2023 British Construction Industry Awards.

Marine track record

Qiao Zhang, Barking Riverside’s head of infrastructure (strategic projects), says there were several reasons for choosing NEC for procuring the pier. ‘NEC has been widely and successfully used for marine engineering projects around the world and is drafted for international use. As such we decided it was the most suitable contract suite for this complex marine project, especially as it was likely to have an international supply chain.’

Recent mooring facilities delivered using NEC contracts include the £67 million Glen Mallan Northern Ammunition Jetty for Britain’s aircraft carriers in Scotland, the £11 million King Edward Point wharf in South Georgia for British Antarctic Survey research vessels, and the £6 million Pak Kok pier for the Llama Island ferry service in Hong Kong.

Zhang also said NEC’s requirement on the parties to act in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’ and its focus on project management were key factors. ‘Due to the complexity of the project, we felt that NEC offered more emphasis on collaboration and best practice project management to reduce risks than other contract forms.’

Collaborative approach

She says the contract worked well in practice. ‘The NEC collaborative approach worked well during the whole project, including in the early contractor involvement stage. The initial tender was over budget so we worked closely with the contractor to find cost savings and review each party’s risk position’.

NEC processes such as early warnings and early warning meetings were also used effectively, says Zhang. ‘For example, the contractor notified an early warning that opening could be delayed by up to nine months due to piling restrictions in the fish breeding season. The project team worked closely with the UK Marine Management Organisation to overcome these restrictions and keep the project on track.’

She adds that during the commissioning phase, the contractor worked closely with ferry operator Uber Boat by Thames Clippers to facilitate trial berthing of the vessels at the pier. ‘This allowed a seamless “soft opening” in April 2022 ahead of contract completion. Overall, the partnership working was exceptional, leading to the project being delivered on time and to budget.’

Benefits of using NEC

• NEC’s track record in delivering marine works around the world meant it was ideal for this complex maritime project involving an international supply chain.
• NEC requirement on parties to act in a spirit of ‘mutual trust and co-operation’ ensured a strong collaborative approach to managing risk, from the early contractor involvement stage through to ‘soft opening’ and completion.
• NEC processes such as early warnings and early warning meetings ensured all risks to the programme and budget were identified and mitigated as soon as possible.