Van Oord wins work flood defence project

The Border Meuse project encompasses a 43km stretch of river between Maastricht and Roosteren in the province of Limburg. The flood defence work will be combined with the development of approximately a thousand hectares of land set aside for conservation, financed by proceeds from the sale of 53m tons of gravel extracted from the river.

Once the Border Meuse project is finished, the villages located along the South Limburg stretch of the Meuse will have a far greater level of protection against flooding than they now have. When the work is finished in 2017, the risk of flooding will drop from an average of once every 50 years to once every 250 years.

The River Meuse will be given more room by lowering its banks and floodplain, thereby widening the channel. The excavated soil will be used to fill in the gravel pits. The project will involve moving a total of 80m tons of material.

The project partners include Van Oord Nederland and other companies as well as the Netherlands Society for the Preservation of Nature, all united in the Consortium Grensmaas BV. The Maaswerken organisation, part of the Department of Public Works and Water Management, will monitor the consortiums compliance with its contractual obligations on behalf of the public authorities.