Belgian metal construction company Geldof opts for green growth

As an extension of the mega contract Geldof was awarded last year, the Belgian construction company is now going green: first, some 600 tonnes of made to measure, pre-formed, buffed and painted steel plates will be transported by inland ship in an environmentally friendly manner from Harelbeke to the Amsterdam container terminals. If this goes well, the remaining 16,400 tonnes will follow. In doing so Geldof keeps more than 850 lorries off Belgian and Dutch roads and countless kilos of CO2 out of the air.

In June 2009

The Belgian metal construction company Geldof was awarded the mega project of building a reservoir terminal for Vopak. Geldof is responsible for building 23 fuel reservoirs in Amsterdam’s Westpoort harbour. The tanks have a total storage volume of 620,000 m³, a never before seen capacity for Western Europe.

Continued growth

Almost a year later, the huge project was started. The plans for the Amsterdam reservoir park are even nicer, as the second phase (representing some 12,000 tonnes of steel) was again entrusted to Geldof. Geldof can now continue to become an important international player, which is why the company wants to set a good example by resolutely opting for green solutions.

Sustainable growth

A major green step was made when transporting a new shipment of plates to Amsterdam. Instead of transporting 600 tonnes of steel plates over the road, Geldof chose an ecological solution: transport per ship. In total about 30 ships with the steel plates will arrive from Geldof in Harelbeke in the Port of Amsterdam. In doing so Geldof keeps more than 850 lorries off the already heavily burdened Belgian and Dutch motorways.

Even more green transport

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to go the environmentally friendly route,” says Logistics Manager Olivier Ramont at Geldof. “Sometimes, the wharf is just too far from a port or there isn’t a port company able to tranship and store such special, heavy and cumbersome steel constructions on site. However, the circumstances were ideal for this project. If the first 600 tonnes are safe and arrive at their destination, we will also transport the next 16,400 tonnes by inland ship.”

Today a clear step was made towards ecologically responsible and socially responsible business with respect for people and the environment. On board the ships have 12-metre-long steel plates with a width of 2,5 m, weighing 5 tonnes each. An example of how industry and the environment connect.

May 27th, 2010