Work starts on second Antwerp lock

November saw work get under way on construction of what is the second lock on the Left Bank. As briefly highlighted in the December issue of MJ, the new lock is based on the Berendrecht lock, currently the largest in the world. Like the Berendrecht lock, it will be 500m long and 68m wide. The new lock, at 17.80m below the local datum level, will be deeper than the Berendrecht lock.

Port of Antwerp said that over the next few years no less than 9.1 million m³ of earth will be excavated. Just under a third of this, 2.7 million m³, will be reused for backfilling. The remaining earth will be used to fill the Doel dock. Some 22,000 tons of structural steel will be used. A total of 795,000m³ of reinforced concrete will be needed along with 57,000m² of sheet piles.