Van Oord goes dredging at home and abroad

This consortium, consisting of BAM-PGGM and Volker Wessels-DIF will be responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance of the new lock for a period of 26 years. The dredging and dry earth works will be carried out by the Van Oord – Boskalis joint venture.

A new, larger lock system will improve the accessibility of the port of Amsterdam and stimulate the local economy by offering space to the growing ships independent of the tidal levels. The new lock will be 70m wide, 500m long and 18m deep.

Construction will start early next year and the new lock will be available for shipping at the end of 2019. After contract close all construction activities will be carried out by BAM and VolkerWessels. The activities, carried out by the Van Oord – Boskalis joint venture, consists of dry earth works, removing part of the Zuidersluis Island, dredging the new entrance channels (both sea side and the North Sea Canal side), dredging the new lock chamber and installing new bed protection. The joint venture Van Oord – Boskalis will be responsible for maintaining the channels for a 26 year period after the work is completed.

The Netherlands based dredging and offshore construction giant Van Oord has also been awarded the dredging contract for the Kaohsiung Intercontinental Container Center Phase II in Taiwan. The client is the Port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC).

The contract value amounts to approximately €130 million. Preparations have already started and the execution period runs until January 2018. The project involves the dredging and reclamation of 37 million m3 of sand for the extension of Kaohsiung Port. Van Oord will deploy one of its largest trailing suction hopper dredgers.

Kaohsiung, located on the South China Sea, is the largest Taiwanese port and plays an important role in the Taiwanese export oriented economy.

By Larz Bourne