Defence Online

Major plans to further extend car storage and handling facilities at the Port of Southampton, which contributes £1bn to the UK economy and supports 15,000 jobs, has taken a step forward after two contracts worth a total of £24m were awarded.Port owner Associated British Ports (ABP) has appointed Morgan Sindall to construct two new multi-deck car storage facilities to enable Southampton to handle greater numbers of cars, which are shipped to meet overseas demand.The appointment of Morgan Sindall is described as “a key element” in ABP’s £50m investment to transform and expand vehicle handling facilities at Southampton.At Southampton’s Eastern and Western Docks, Morgan Sindall will construct two multi-level storage facilities, Deck 6 and Deck 7, which will provide a combined total of 8,669 additional car parking spaces for the port.Deck 6 is a 2.5-acre facility over five levels which will provide car parking spaces for 3,251 vehicles, while Deck 7 is a 3.98-acre facility which will be capable of housing 5,418 vehicles over five levels.Morgan Sindall was previously appointed to deliver the £8.3m extension of the port, a project which the company completed in 2015.