This image shows the two proposed routes for a conveyor belt to bring aggregate up from Petit Bot Bay to be used on the airport runway project.

MILLIONS of pounds will be spent to transport airport runway materials around the island, an independent consultant’s report has shown.

Details of the potential sum were contained in the ISL study, released after pressure from Deputy Barry Paint and the Guernsey Press, which compared the costs of using a conveyor at Petit Bot as an alternative to driving lorries to the airport from Longue Hougue, St Sampson’s.

The report indicated that, for transporting 500,000 tonnes of material, road transport was the cheaper option, costing £1.2m. to £1.9m. for 28,000 round trips. Public Services disputes that volume of material needed for the project, saying it is actually around 350,000 tonnes.

The consultant’s evaluation suggested that a new conveyor on its own would cost around £1-£1.5m.

But it was noted that HGV transport would be more expensive if the cost of damage to the roads was taken into account. ‘An informal estimate of road damage repairs has been quoted at £1 million,’ it said.

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