| Royal Portbury Dock | |
|---|---|
 Royal Portbury Dock, looking out to the Severn Estuary | |
 Interactive map of Royal Portbury Dock | |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Location | North Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°29′35″N2°43′12″W / 51.493056°N 2.72°W /51.493056; -2.72 |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1978 |
| Operated by | The Bristol Port Company |
| Owned by | The Bristol Port Company |
| Type ofharbour | Artificial |
| No. ofberths | 7 |
| No. ofpiers | 2 |
| Chairman | Terence Mordaunt |
| Statistics | |
| Annual cargotonnage | 12m tonnes (2007) |
| Annualrevenue | £63m (2007) |
| Website http://www.bristolport.co.uk/ | |
TheRoyal Portbury Dock is part of thePort of Bristol, inEngland. It is situated near the village ofPortbury on the southern side of the mouth of theAvon, where the river joins theSevern estuary — theAvonmouth Docks are on the opposite side of the Avon, withinAvonmouth. The deepwater dock was constructed between 1972 and 1977, and is now a major port for the import ofmotor vehicles into theUK. TheM5 motorway runs nearby, and the huge car storage compounds around the dock are visible from theAvonmouth Bridge. A waste industrial area west of the port is being developed as thePortbury Ashlands Nature Reserve.[1]
The Royal Portbury Dock has the largest entrance lock into any UK port,[citation needed] accommodating vessels up to 41 m (135 ft) beam, 290 m (951 ft) length and 14.5 m (48 ft)[2] draft.
The dock is now operated by The Bristol Port Company, which also operatesAvonmouth Docks, and has done since 1991 when it purchased a 150-year lease from Bristol City Council. Between 2000 and 2002 thePortishead Railway was repaired and extended to the dock at a cost of £21 million.[3]
Motor vehicles are both loaded and discharged, and stored on paved quay areas and storage compounds. In 2004, over 650,000 vehicles were handled.[4] During 1996, the motor vehicle trade was awarded the International Quality StandardISO 9002. Royal Portbury Dock can accommodate up to sixRoRo vessels simultaneously.
Aviation fuel tankers up to 120,000dwt 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 twocontinuous ship unloaders and two gantry grab cranes, allowing for 5,000 tonne per hour throughput.[5]
Since 2013 the wings for theAirbus A400M Atlas have left Portbury on three specialisedferries (one called theVille De Bordeaux) after travelling from the factory atFilton. They go viaSt Nazaire toSeville. This is part of theItinéraire à Grand Gabarit transportation system.[6][7][8]
Containers and forestry products are also handled at the dock.
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.[9]
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