The Port of Southampton is one of the UK's largest vehicle handling ports, with over 650,000 automotive vehicles passing through the port in 2012. The large majority of these vehicles were UK manufactured cars shipped for export. To accommodate this traffic efficiently Associated British Ports, Britain’s leading port operator, have developed over 80ha of dedicated vehicle storage and distribution compounds.

The facilities include four multi-deck vehicle terminals, the most recent of which was constructed by Morgan Sindall. For all of the multi-decks, the choice of perimeter protection is a crucial one and in this instance Morgan Sindall selected the wire rope solution from Berry Systems. This deck is a steel framed construction with concrete slab decks and is the second deck at Southampton to have been fitted with Berry Systems’ barriers. The standard Berry Brisafe system consists of 3 tensioned wire ropes running through a mesh panel that provides an integrated anti-climb feature and pedestrian handrail.

However, the particular usage at Southampton meant that the anti-climb mesh and handrail was not required as there is no public or general pedestrian access. So a combination of five and six wire systems was developed, employing four low level wires at a typical vehicle impact height and to cater for the varying range of vehicle sizes encountered. The higher, fifth and sixth wires are at handrail height (minimum 1100mm) and complete the barrier by providing personnel protection. All wires were coated in bright yellow plastic for high visibility.

The cables were anchored to the structural columns and then tensioned to provide the required impact resistance while still retaining flexibility to minimise any impact damage. This creates an ideal environment for the many high value cars in transit through the port, including BMW Minis, Landrovers, Range Rovers and Jaguars. It avoids the cost and disruption of the potential damage that would be caused by minor impacts with a solid perimeter wall. The wire rope system also has no footprint on the parking deck and so maximises the storage space available.

Further protection was provided by fixing Berry Corner Fenders to the exposed edges of all the steel columns. These EPDM synthetic rubber fenders also have high visibility yellow strips on each side to give a visual hazard warning regardless of the direction of approach.

Berry Systems MD Ian Darlington said “As well as offering a wide range of standard systems, the extensive experience we have in this market enables us to adapt and develop those systems to meet specific customer requirements and circumstances while maintaining performance integrity and meeting relevant standards.”