The construction of the new sea lock at Terneuzen will take at least three months longer than planned. Dutch Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management has informed the Lower House of this.

She said the delay is the result of ‘circumstances on the construction site’. The delay may increase because there are still ongoing discussions ‘about a number of issues, including corona, which may also affect the delivery date.’ It is unclear with whom these talks are being held.

The planned delivery date will in any case be postponed from the end of 2022 to March 2023, but this date may still be overrun. Rijkswaterstaat, which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and responsible for the design, construction, management and maintenance of the main infrastructure facilities in the Netherlands, is also the organisation that commissioned this project on behalf of the Netherlands. The organisation is currently in consultation with the Sassevaart consortium responsible for the lock’s construction.

Waalbrug

Van Nieuwenhuizen also reports that the renovation of the Waal bridge (Waalbrug) near Nijmegen will be much more expensive than expected. The budget for this project has therefore been increased from 25 to 65.2 million euros. The concrete road surface has to be replaced because the structural safety of the bridge is at stake.

In addition, large quantities of paint containing chromium-6 have been found in the preservation layer of the steel arch. Because this arch does not pose any safety risks for years to come, it was decided to leave the paint layer for at least ten more years. The Minister expects that replacement will become cheaper in the future because ‘a great deal of knowledge is currently being gained about working safely with chromium-6’.

Picture by Rijkswaterstaat.

This article first appeared in Dutch on Nieuwsblad Transport, a publication of SWZ|Maritime’s publishing partner Promedia.