Peel Ports chief: virtual quarries can cut UK construction costs

A port operator handling more than 70 million tonnes of cargo a year says shifting construction materials from road to sea could take significant cost out of UK infrastructure delivery. Peel Ports Group chief executive David Huck is building the case for what the company calls port-centric "virtual quarries" — port estates used as consolidation, storage and processing hubs sitting next to deep-water berths.

The argument rests on changing market conditions. Domestic production closures, rising imports, high energy costs and labour shortages are forcing construction supply chains to rethink how materials reach project sites, Huck told New Civil Engineer.

"There's a huge shift to importing because of decarbonisation and ports are going to play a pivotal role in the future of the construction sector. It's transformational," he said.

What does port-centric construction logistics look like?

Peel Ports' port-to-project model works on a simple premise: move the heavy stuff by sea, then distribute it by rail and water rather than heavy goods vehicles. Aggregates, cement, steel and timber arrive in bulk at deep-water facilities. The port estate then acts as a staging area — a virtual quarry — close to where the material is needed.

"Choosing a deep water, port-centric virtual quarry as opposed to traditional modes can take a significant amount of cost out of the construction supply chain, because you're cutting out the cost, carbon and congestion," Huck said.

Three pressures ease at once under the model:

• Cost: fewer road miles and less double-handling of bulk materials
• Carbon: sea and rail legs replace HGV movements on congested roads
• Congestion: freight shifts off the UK's busiest road corridors

The congestion point is not incidental. Huck's pitch ties directly into UK road network strain, where heavy vehicles carrying construction materials are a persistent load on capacity.

Which projects are already using it?

The commercial groundwork is already laid. Peel Ports runs a Sustainable Construction Partner programme backed by companies including Ecocem, the low-carbon cement producer, and Holcim, the global building materials group.

Its pilot hub at London Medway is supporting projects including the Lower Thames Crossing, National Highways' proposed road scheme east of London. The group is also involved in two of the UK's largest developments: Sizewell C, the nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast, and HyNet North West, the carbon capture and hydrogen cluster centred on the Liverpool Bay area.

That project roster matters for the model's credibility. Nuclear builds and carbon capture clusters both demand sustained, high-volume inflows of aggregates, cement and steel — exactly the cargo profile that suits deep-water port consolidation.

What has to change for shippers and contractors?

Huck is blunt about the obstacle: procurement. Traditional routes to projects — road-first, quarry-first — are baked into how contractors buy materials. He argues that unlocking the savings requires a wholesale rethink of sourcing decisions, moving them upstream to the port rather than the site gate.

"Sometimes you need to rip up your traditional routes to projects and look at things through a different lens," he said.

For shippers and forwarders, the shift carries commercial weight. Import-led supply of aggregates and cement means more deep-sea and short-sea calls at UK ports with the estate to store and process bulk cargo. Ports without consolidation capacity lose that business. Carriers gain predictable bulk flows tied to multi-year infrastructure programmes.

Huck added that port-centric logistics could deliver substantial savings while supporting the government's infrastructure and decarbonisation ambitions — a policy alignment that strengthens the case as Whitehall weighs how to deliver its building pipeline.

With import dependence on construction materials set to grow as domestic capacity shrinks, expect the virtual quarry model to move from pilot schemes toward standard procurement practice across the UK's biggest projects.