D P World, London Gateway
DP World is a global port operator founded in 2005 through a merger of Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Ports International. It has 1,600 quayside cranes and over 55km of quay wall globally. Owned by DP World, London Gateway in Thurrock is a unique development that combines the UK’s newest deep-sea container port with Europe’s largest logistics park. Located at the heart of the country’s main consumer market, London and just 10 miles from the M25, the port is now operating with its first berth open. When fully developed it will be able to handle 3.5 million TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit, a measure used for capacity in container transportation) a year and is forecast to create 36,000 jobs, contributing GBP 3.2bn to UK GDP annually.
In order to accommodate the new IT infrastructure necessary for the ports ongoing expansion, Bower Fuller was employed as design and build Principal Contractor to provide a larger footprint for the existing server room. Adjacent rooms had to be demolished followed by modifying the raised access floors, forming new walls, enhancing the fire rating of retained walls and installing new fire rated doors. Hot and cold isle separation was installed in the form of anti-static PVC curtains to enhance the efficiency of the cooling system. The existing IT equipment remained live throughout which placed a greater emphasis on the need for careful planning, sequencing, meticulous dust management and critical power changeovers. The electrical services include LV panel modifications, temporary supplies for the shut downs, alterations to the fire alarm, BMS, small power, lighting, door access, CCTV gas suppression systems and upgrading the existing UPS system to separate 80KVA UPS streams.
We also carried out electrical resilience surveys which established that a larger back-up generator was required to support the additional server room cooling load. This involved decommissioning and removing the existing generator, carrying out an additional crane lift and installing new LV distribution cabling.