Filming Osprey’s Big Move for Nuclear New Build!
Sometimes only pictures will do. This is especially true of nuclear construction. Video and photography capture the scale of the operations at Hinkley Point C.
Polar Beam Hinkley Point C on Osprey Barge
We’ve recently finished producing a significant video for Osprey Group, a British company specialising in the transfer of large equipment and abnormal loads across the globe.
Employed by Hinkley Point C to move infrastructure critical parts to the nuclear new build in Somerset, Osprey has just completed a transfer of two 40 metre reactor beams from their place of manufacture in Spain across Europe to Bristol Port and then on to Combwich Wharf by sea, with the final miles completed on specialist low loaders.
Osprey Barge on River Parrett, Somerset
Logistics may not spring to mind when thinking about nuclear construction, but like engineering, trade skills and project management, it’s at the heart of the jigsaw making up a vast and complex building project.
The scale of the beam move cannot be underestimated. At least 2-years in the planning, the transport of these huge pieces of equipment to site marks the beginning of assembly and storage of vital parts ready for integrating into the reactor buildings.
Filming Nuclear Construction at Hinkley Point C
Transferring either very large loads or loads at volume requires painstaking preparation and implementation. Whilst our film for Osprey shows only a fraction of what has been achieved in the careful journey of two beams from manufacture to delivery, it does capture the ingenuity and commitment of a team of very special professionals into whose care billion pounds worth of equipment has been entrusted.
Osprey Nuclear Delivery Team Success
And this is just one of many such moves for project that Osprey is undertaking. In this case, our film crew worked over 4-days, side-by-side with the Osprey team and their counterparts from EDF to chart the movement of one of the 40 metre, 143 tonnes beams by a specially commissioned barge, the Isobel, from Bristol Port to a dock on the River Parrett.
Aerial Filming Specialists for Nuclear
As observers of Osprey’s polar beam transfer, we realised as we filmed, we were capturing a historic moment that will in years to come play as archive footage in the construction of the first nuclear new build in the UK for a generation.
With two Osprey coastal barges committed to HPC, this was the Isobel’s maiden journey with a full load. As she rounded the last bend of the river on a glorious summer morning, our drone was recording. The pictures show the scale of the polar beam on the water.
For Osprey and EDF it is a clear snapshot of what can be achieved in construction logistics. Furthermore the video documentation is a demonstration to pipeline projects of Osprey’s capabilities as a specialist logistics carrier. We were simply proud to have been there to capture such a significant event.