Coastal maintenance work has begun at the Maasvlakte 2 area of the Port of Rotterdam as part of a large programme of works to protect the low-lying Netherlands.
Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management executive agency (Rijkswaterstaat), Van Oord has started a sand-nourishment project in the area to protect the port area and Rotterdam’s hinterland.
Vox Apolonia, Van Oord’s LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredger, will dredge around 1 million m3 of sand 10 kilometres away in the North Sea and deposit it on the Maasvlakte 2 beach and seabed just offshore.
A pressure pipe will be used to pump the sand on to the beach, where bulldozers and excavators will spread it out. The idea is that over the next few months, wind and other weather will shift the sand into dune shapes, ‘reinforcing the coast using the forces of nature’.
Maasvlakte 2 has been reported on by Maritime Journal, as a huge port expansion project that was started in 2008.
Since then, the Prinses Amaliahaven container port has been built, and the Yangtze Canal widened.
Afsluitdijk Dam works
Van Oord is also working to repair a dam crucial for protecting large parts of the Netherlands from sea flooding.
The Afsluitdijk Dam, a 32km dam that crosses the Usselmeer inland lake in the northern Netherlands, was first built in 1932.
Rijkswaterstaat has hired contractors to strengthen it along its entire length, with cladding on its outer side facing the Wadden Sea.
‘Levvel blocs’ each weighing 6.5 tonnes will be placed on top of basalt blocks on the lower scope to break the waves, with symmetrical positioning and GPS chips installed, which Rijkswaterstaat says will make them easier to inspect and maintain.
The works was due to be finished last year, but technical issues because of the complexity of the worlds have slowed progress and it is still ongoing.
The €550 million project is being carried out by a consortium of Van Oord, BAM and Rebel.
