What we do

Challenge

The accessibility of the city of Rotterdam and the wider region is crucially important for the economy. Alongside the largest port in Europe, the Rotterdam region also hosts an enormous horticultural cluster, Greenport West Holland. Therefore the construction of the Blankenburg Connection is necessary to enable continued accessibility to this region and to stimulate economic growth in the area.

Various studies have identified a number of urgent bottlenecks which will arise in the area after 2020 and these will be at the expense of the liveability and economic activity in the region, for example traffic jams in the Benelux tunnel area. The Blankenburg Connection will relieve this problem by offering motorists an alternative to 'crossing' the Scheur/Nieuwe Waterweg.

Rijkswaterstaat (The Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands) awarded the Public-Private Partnership project for the Blankenburg Connection to the BAAK Consortium, which consists of DEME, Ballast Nedam and Macquarie Capital. The project includes the design, build, finance and maintenance for a period of 20 years using existing and new infrastructure.

Solution

The Blankenburg Connection consists of the construction of a freeway with 2x3 lanes, a land tunnel, water tunnel, a deepened connection to the A20 road and a high connection to the A15. Additionally, the A20 will be widened until the Kethelplein. Works are expected to be completed between 2022 – 2024.

    Our overall scope includes:

    • Widening the A20/li>
    • Junction A20 - Blankenburg Connection: deepened position
    • Deepened position until the Aalkeettunnel
    • The Aalkeettunnel: land tunnel of approximately 500 m long
    • Crossing railroad line Vlaardingen - Hoek van Holland
    • Kanteldijk
    • Blankenburg Tunnel: connects the northern and southern bank of the Scheur/Nieuwe Waterweg. The tunnel is 945 m long and consists of two submerged tunnel elements of 200 m long each. The rest of the tunnel will be built in building pits.
    • Connection of the Blankenburg Connection to the A15: high connection by means of flyovers
    • Adjustment of the A15

    Our specific dredging scope includes:

    • Dredging for driving cofferdams/against cofferdams
    • To achieve the correct draughts of the unloading quays
    • Dredging the sinking trench
    • Dredging pits for concrete tiles and placing gravel bed
    • For the submersion of tunnel elements/installation of locking-fill tunnel elements
    • Backfilling of sinking trench with sand
    • Rock installation on top of the tunnel
    • Backfilling of sinking trench with soil

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