Daughter VolkerWessels gets job against salinity North Sea Canal | Financial

About twice as much salt water will flow into the North Sea Canal via the new sea lock in IJmuiden than at the current Noordersluis. The intention is that part of that salt water will be discharged back to the sea.

At the end of June, the government already made 67 million euros available to solve this problem. Van Hattum en Blankevoort emerged as the winner in the tender. According to Rijkswaterstaat, the company has the best plans, among other things, for limiting the nuisance to the environment as much as possible. Exactly what the company earns from the job has not been disclosed.

The new sea lock will be the largest in the world. But salinization is bad for agriculture and drinking water. To prevent this process, a sheet pile wall will be built in front of the IJmuiden pumping station with an opening at the bottom. Soon, salt water, which is heavier than fresh water, will be able to flow through the opening while the fresh water is held back in the upper water layer.

pumping station

The work at the pumping station should be completed by the end of 2024. However, the new sea lock will be put into operation early next year. Until the sheet pile wall at the pumping station is ready, temporary measures will be taken to prevent the salinity from rising. For example, the Noordersluis will be used longer.

Originally, the new sea lock in IJmuiden should have been put into operation at the end of 2019. But construction was delayed due to a construction error. Correcting that mistake cost contractors BAM and VolkerWessels hundreds of millions of euros.

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