Test the route
Confirm suitable loading points, waterway dimensions, destinations, handling arrangements and the practical capacity of the operation.
Discuss a project ↗Freight, waste & logistics
Take pressure off
the road and the site.
WHH plans and operates water freight and construction logistics by barge for materials, excavated material, waste and prefabricated components—turning canals and navigable rivers into dependable routes to constrained sites.
Freight that works for the programme
Transport, access
and storage in one.
A barge can solve more than the journey.
Where road access, delivery slots and laydown space are restricted, the vessel can carry substantial loads directly to the waterside workface and remain alongside until the material is needed.
WHH develops the complete operation: loading and unloading points, vessel selection, lifting and transfer arrangements, navigation, crew and coordination with the site programme. The result can be a one-off specialist delivery or a repeat service integrated with everyday site logistics.
Regent's Wharf · Byrne Bros.
3,500 tonnes.
Fewer than 75 loads.
WHH removed approximately 3,500 tonnes of muck and piling arisings from the Regent's Wharf project in fewer than 75 barge loads.
Moving the material by water replaced repeated road haulage from a constrained central London site and allowed large volumes to leave in planned consignments using the canal immediately beside the works.
Muck away · piling arisings · high-capacity barge movements
Building the operation
From a possible route
to dependable site logistics.
Water freight works best when access, transfer and programme requirements are considered together at an early stage.
Plan the transfer
Coordinate suppliers, lifting plant, site teams and onward handling so each barge movement fits the wider construction programme.
Use the vessel as space
Hold packaged materials or prefabricated components afloat until required, reducing pressure on constrained site storage and access.
Run the operation
Provide the required vessels, crews and day-to-day coordination for one-off deliveries or dependable repeat traffic.
Materials in. Arisings out.
One waterway.
Many logistics roles.
Packaged goods, loose bulk materials, prefabricated elements and regular waste traffic all call for different handling and operating arrangements.
Camden Market · scheduled freight
The Regent's Canal's only regular freight service
WHH carried bulk dry mixed recycling from Camden Market to Powerday, loading within the listed covered dock at Interchange Basin and using a historic Regent's Canal barge for maximum volume. The successful service ran until 2026, when Interchange Basin became unavailable for operational use.
McAleer & Rushe
Bricks delivered and held afloat
With road access and site space constrained, bricks were loaded onto a WHH barge and delivered by water. The vessel could remain alongside as floating storage, releasing valuable space ashore and simplifying the site's delivery sequence.
Regent's Park
Bulk landscaping materials
One-tonne bags of topsoil were carried to the worksite and lifted directly from the boat into the park, avoiding repeated handling along restricted land routes.
King's Cross · offsite construction
Bring large components
to a site with little room.
Prefabricated building components were delivered by barge to a highly constrained King's Cross site. Water access made offsite construction methods practicable where road delivery, turning and temporary storage would otherwise have been difficult.
The required vessels also created an orderly floating delivery queue beside the workface, allowing components to be transferred into the building sequence as they were needed.
Prefabrication · sequenced delivery · floating storage
Typical applications
Waterborne logistics
for difficult sites.
- Construction materials↗
- Excavated material and piling arisings↗
- Bulk and bagged landscaping materials↗
- Prefabricated building components↗
- Commercial waste and recycling↗
- Plant and abnormal loads↗
Plan for water early
Protect the wharf, transfer space and route before they are designed out.
Send us the site, material, likely quantities, programme and possible loading or destination points. We can test the practical route, likely payloads and handling method before the logistics plan becomes fixed.
Discuss a freight or logistics operation ↗