“With Maasvlakte 2, the Netherlands is throwing the door wide open to the newest generation of container ships. And we offer space for the latest terminals. The port is growing 20 percent larger, and the container capacity has doubled. Thousands of direct and indirect jobs will be created.”

With these words Dutch minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen of Infrastructure and environment (photo above, with flag), officially opened Maasvlakte 2 for shipping on 22 May.

Two new deep port basins
In 2008 the Project Organization for the Extension of the Maasvlakte (Puma), a 50/50 joint venture between dredging and marine contractors Boskalis and Van Oord, started the extension of the Port of Rotterdam by creating 2,000 hectares of new port zone with 20 m deep port basins, so even the largest – next generation – container vessels can dock.

An important component of the project is the construction of the overall sea defenses. This was completed in July 2012 and construction commenced to make the new zone assessable for shipping.

The official opening marked the final phase of the port project with construction of two container terminals. Both terminals are scheduled to be ready by the end of 2014.

Ships can get to the Maasvlakte 2 passing the Nieuwe Waterweg (left up) and the now opened Yangtze canal (middle down).

Less expensive
“Together we have succeeded in constructing this phase of Maasvlakte 2 according to schedule and well inside budget,’ said Hans Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority on the occasion. “The project has turned out 150 million euro less expensive than estimated. This becomes evident now that the construction has been largely completed”.

In 2006 it was estimated that an amount of 1.7 billion euro would be spent on the first phase of Maasvlakte 2. It now looks like the first phase cost 1.55 billion euro. The ‘contingency sum’ of 200 million euro does not have to be touched.

Combination of reasons
The Port of Rotterdam gives two main reasons for the lower costs. To start with, the project was thoroughly prepared, so that during its execution scarcely any unexpected matters arose.

It was partly due to this that there was also almost no delay as a result of legal proceedings. Appropriate forms of contract were sought with the various contractors, including agreements on enabling optimisation after the contract was concluded.

Half-open block dam
One important example of an optimisation is the design of the hard seawall. The seawall which has now been built consists of a half-open block dam and a cobble beach. The original design was a solid dike. This allowed savings in construction and maintenance costs, without sacrificing safety.

Precisely designed and placed half-open block dam protects the new port zone from the sea.

Another optimisation was the temporary cooling water discharge for the E.ON power station. A relatively expensive structure was replaced by a narrow canal to the Yangtzehaven.

Well though-out risk distribution
The second reason given by Port of Rotterdam for the lower costs, is the well thought-out risk distribution between client and contractors. For example, sand being washed away by storms was the risk of the contractor.

Only loss of sand resulting from a storm with waves higher than 6.75 metres for more than 3 hours was the responsibility of the Port Authority. This kind of storm occurs once every 10 years on average. The weather helped here, as such a severe storm did not occur in the past few years.

This news item was originally published on the website of Port of Rotterdam

An earlier milestone of the Maasvlakte 2 project was the closer of the sea wall in July last year.

More information
Port of Rotterdam
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 252 10 10
www.portofrotterdam.com
and
www.maasvlakte2.com/en

PUMA – Projectorganisatie uitbreiding Maasvlakte
a joint venture between Boskalis and Van Oord
p/a Hoogvliet, the Netherlands
+31 181 409 300

“Vietnam will work with other countries to develop its river basins and deltas in a sustainable way”, said Vice Minister of natural resources and environment Nguyen Thai Lai, addressing his key note to the Deltas2013 conference in Ho Chi Minh City on 20 May.

One of these countries is the Netherlands. For several years the Dutch and Vietnamese governments are working on a Vietnamese version of a long term climate adaptation policy as is now being implemented in the Netherlands.

This long-term integrated vision for the Mekong delta was a main topic during one of the first sessions of the conference. On behalf of the Mekong Delta Consortium professor Marcel Stive of the Technical University of Delft reflected on the Vietnamese-Dutch cooperation so far.

Vice Minister of natural resources and environment Nguyen Thai Lai

Dealing with many uncertainties
“In July we expect to complete the first version of the Mekong Delta Plan but a plan in itself is not enough,” said Stive. “The plan is based on future scenarios with many variables such as climate change, business and rural developments, demographical changes. Scenarios include many uncertainties and for a plan to be still reliable over ten years, it needs to be revised continuously. Measures have to be adjusted or be implemented more quickly.”

Adjustments when new knowledge emerges
Professor Stive: “The Vietnamese authorities are now adopting this way of thinking. In the Netherlands we have a 800-years history of flood risk reduction and our policy making is based on a large knowledge of our water system. For Vietnam this is less obvious. Here they have a tradition of a five year planning cycle. It requires a mind shift to think in terms of a long term plan and adjust it whenever new knowledge emerges”.

Professor Marcel Stive, Technical University of Delft.

Following the presentation of the first version of the Mekong Delta Plan, the Dutch experts will assist Vietnamese ministries in involving non-governmental organisations and stakeholders.

About Deltas2013 dialogues II
The DELTAS2013-World Delta Dialogues II Conference takes place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 19 -23 May. The conference is organised by America’s Wetland Foundation and supported by the governments of the Vietnam, the Unites States of America and the Netherlands.

Working groups within the conference will promote global collaboration among deltaic regions with the goal of arriving at a “Communiqué of Cooperation,” identifying priority issues, challenges and solutions.

In 2010 the first World Delta Dialogues Conference took place in New Orleans.

(all photo’s by America’s Wetland Foundation)

More information
Deltas2013 conference, Ho Chi Minh City, 19-23 May 2013

Lowering wind speed and a land fall during low tide prevented cyclone Mahasen to hit the coast of Bangladesh hard on the early morning of 16 May.

In the Mephan river delta a storm surge of 2 meter has been reported, causing some 20 chars to flood. Earlier when Mahasen was in full swing, a 5 meter storm surge was predicted.

Broken up over land Mahasen caused heavy wind guts and thunder showers. In and around the coastal cities of Patuakhali and Bhola thousands of thatched houses were destroyed and crops leveled.

The Bangladesh authorities officially reported six death.

Last moment track change

During the final 24 hrs before landfall at 06.00 hrs, the cyclcone’s track changed 100 km to the west (map by Deltares)

Just before landfall the cyclone changed its track some 100 km to the west. “That would have resulted in a higher tide in the Meghan river delta, if not for the landfall to coincide with the low tide”, says Maarten van Ormondt of the research institute Deltares.

Ormondt followed the cyclone’s track and made some simulations of the storm surge: “The surge lies somewhat right of the track and would have pushed more water up the funnel-shaped Bay of Bengal, and into the river delta. ”

Mahasen was predicted to head for the more eastern coastal city Chittagong. Here the cyclone had hardly any influence on the high tide. The tidal monitoring data of Chittagong the cyclone only shows up during the low tide. Because of the conjunction with the storm surge, the low tide was a little less than normal.

Mahasen made landfall in the early morning of 16 May some 100 km west of the coastal city of Cittagong where the low tide was a little less than normal.

Constantly changing storm surge
Mahasen showed how difficult it is to predict the impact of a storm surge. Changes in wind speed, track and conjunction with the high tide have a big influence. Mathijs van Ledden of engineering consultant Royal HaskoningDHV was involved in the activities during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005. He affirms the difficulty for emergency authorities to react to the constantly changing situation.

Storm surge atlas
Van Ledden: “Therefore the US Army Corps of Engineers asked us to make the storm surge atlas. The storm surge atlas is an online database with over 300 different hypothetical hurricanes that may impact New Orleans. In the atlas’ results we combined the potential height of the storm surge of these hurricanes with the land elevation, showing the areas that can be exposed to flooding. When a hurricane approaches New Orleans, the authorities can identify the hurricane in the storm surge atlas with the best match with respect to track, size and intensity and quickly assess the expected maximum storm surge and corresponding water levels.”

According to Van Ledden such a quick assessment is of crucial importance when it comes to taking preventive measures.

Also read the previous news item on Mahasen on this website:
Latest storm surge model for cyclone Mahasen shows less high tide then expected, 16 May 2013
Evacuation to embanked shelters started as cyclone Mahasen approaches coast of Bangladesh and Myanmar, 15 May 2013

More information
Deltares
Delft, the Netherlands
+31 88 335 8273
www.deltares.com

Royal HaskoningDHV
Amersfoort, the Netherlands
+31 88 348 20 00
www.rhdhv.com

Water Footprint Network announced Global Water Footprint Standard training courses in four countries.

The courses are designed for professionals from businesses, governments, and academia including consultancies advising corporations or governments.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam
Water Footprint Assessment Methodology & Application
Date: 28-30 May 2013
This three day course is split into two sessions: (I) Water Footprint Assessment Concepts and Methodology (May 28/29) and (II) Implementing Water Footprint Assessment (May 30).

Korea, Seoul
Water Footprint Assessment Course
Date: 28 May 2013
Participants learn how to apply the Water Footprint Assessment methodology, ultimately contributing to better water governance and more sustainable water strategies.

South Africa, Pretoria
Global Water Footprint Standard Training Course
Dates: 8-10 October 2013
Customized materials will be presented to meet the specific demands of the professionals in Africa interested in learning about Water Footprint Assessment and applying it in their daily practice.

Spain, Madrid
Curso De Huella HÍdrica Aplicada Al Sector Empresarial
Date: 22 May 2013
Organized by Fundación Botín in collaboration with Water Footprint Network

Check all courses and other water footprint releated events on: www.waterfootprint.org/agenda

More information
Water Footprint Network
Enschede, the Netherlands
+31 53 489 5383
www.waterfootprint.org

According to the latest model calculation by Dutch research institute Deltares the cyclone Mahasan will produce a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 meter along the coast between Chittagong and Cox-Bazaar.

Earlier this week when the cyclone was building up over the Northern part of the Indian Ocean a storm surge of 5 meter was predicted.

Less wind speed
An explanation for this down-toned prediction is that the wind intensity has changed considerably. The early calculations were based on wind speeds up to 70 knots. Now it seems that wind speeds dropped to only 45 knots when Mahasen made landfall earlier today.

Mahasan slowed down and changed from a cyclone to a heavy storm.

Hydrodynamic model Delft 3D
Most reports on cylcone Mahasan origin from weather stations that monitoring the complex on wind speeds, width and track. Deltares is one of the few institutes to monitor the cyclone’s storm surge.

The hydrodynamic model has been set up with Delft3D system running in 2D model.

Uncertainty over precise track
During the week different weather models predicted different tracks for the cyclone.

Most recent forecasts show a track more to the north and resulting in the Deltares model to an even lower storm surge.

Deltares therefore notices that the model is only an indication. Rainfall and wave induced set-up are not included in this simulation.

This news item was originally published on the website of Deltares.

Also read the previous news item on Mahasen on this website:
Evacuation to embanked shelters started as cyclone Mahasen approaches coast of Bangladesh and Myanmar, 15 May 2013

More information
Deltares
Delft, the Netherlands
+31 88 335 8273
www.deltares.com

International consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV has won a multi-million dollar contract to supervise the construction of the extension of the main port of Jakarta, Tanjung Priok.

State owned port operator IPC (Indonesian Port Corporation) assigned Royal HaskoningDHV as lead consultant for the supervision of the construction of Stage 1 of the port extension with local sub-consultant PT Atrya Swascipta Rekayasa.

The contract is part of the North Kalibaru Terminal Development and the first phase includes the development of a new 4.5 million TEUs container terminal allowing the economic development of Indonesia to continue.

Tripling annual capacity
Construction of one of the world’s largest port developments has begun in Indonesia. When it completes in 2023, Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok port, which currently handles the lion’s share of Indonesia’s exports and imports, will more than triple its annual capacity to 18 million TUEs of container traffic.

The creation of North Kalibaru Port, a new terminal within the port complex, will play an essential role in the development of Indonesia, strengthening the national logistics chain, increasing global competitiveness and functioning as an international hub for seaborne trade.

One of Indonesia’s most prestigious public projects, the North Kalibaru Port extension was opened by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 23 March 2013.

Lead consultant
State owned port operator IPC (Indonesian Port Corporation) assigned Royal HaskoningDHV as lead consultant for the supervision of the construction of Stage 1 of the port extension with local sub-consultant PT Atrya Swascipta Rekayasa. The first new container terminal is scheduled to be operational in 2014; Stage 1 will be completed in 2018.

Strategic port development: tight schedule, high quality requirements
Royal HaskoningDHV will supervise construction works including land reclamation, revetments, an access bridge, a container yard and quay structures. Herman Pals, Project Director said: “This is one of the biggest port developments at this time. It is a strategic project in terms of infrastructure development in Indonesia, so for both the port and terminal operators the stakes are high. The schedule is tight and the quality requirements are high again. At the peak of the construction period, we will mobilise a team of over 50 staff to provide the multidisciplinary expertise required to deliver the complete supervision works and to resolve any issues arising from the construction works.”

Special soft soil construction
Pals continued: “We have some interesting challenges, as the port is being constructed on very soft soils. Standard reclamation by landfill is not possible for the first terminal, because of large ground settlements and the time required allowing the ground to settle. This means that the first terminal, including the complete container yard, will consist of a concrete deck on foundation piles, which is rather unusual.”

Re-using dredged materials
With sustainability a crucial factor in today’s world, a large part of the reclamation and landfill work for the other, future terminals will be carried out re-using material dredged from the port and from deepening the access channel. Seawater and nearby intakes will be protected from contamination with silts from the dredging, achieved by applying so called silt curtains.

Royal HaskoningDHV won the project after delivering the most competitive financial proposal with the best proposed methodology and team composition.

Other Jakarta Bay projects by Royal HaskoningDHV
Besides the extension of Jakarta’s main port Tanjung Priok in Jakarta Bay, Royal HaskoningDHV is involved in several other large and ambitious port related and coastal projects in Jakarta Bay:

• For the development of another new port, east of Tanjung Priok, Royal HaskoningDHV is providing the design and project management.
• For the Pluit City Land Development Project Royal HaskoningDHV is designing two climate change proof islands (160ha and 195 ha) with world class commercial and residential areas.
• For the new residential Golf Island (300 ha) Royal HaskoningDHV is supervising the land reclamation offshore Pantai Indah Kapuk, which is the first privately owned island appearing above the water level in Jakarta Bay.
• For the Jakarta Coastal Sea Defence Project, Royal HaskoningDHV is developing the institutional and financial framework to allow the Indonesian Government to manage this ambitious project to protect Jakarta against the threat from flooding.

This news item was originally published on the website of Royal Haskoning DHV.

Also read on this website:
Van Oord contracted for deepening and reclaiming land for largest container port in Indonesia, 4 December 2012

More information
Royal HaskoningDHV
Amersfoort, the Netherlands
+31 88 348 20 00
www.rhdhv.com

On five low-lying coastal islands on the southeast coast of Bangladesh that are currently under reconstruction to be embanked, people are being evacuated to cyclone shelters on other islands.

This reports Jan van der Wal of the consultancy firm Euroconsult Mott MacDonald. He is team leader of the Char Development and Settlement IV project, a joint Dutch-Bengali coastal project to construct levees and drainage systems to stop the movement of the sand plates, allowing to build infrastructure and initiate economic development.

Cyclone Mahasan is building up on the Indian Ocean and is expected to make landfall close to this area on Thursday. The cyclone is predicted to produce a storm surge that can reach upto 5 meters.

Inland of Bangladesh it has rained heavily the past seven days and river discharges have increased sharply. The storm surge will block the river discharge to the sea, possibly causing severe flooding, not only along the coast, but along the rivers as well.

Preparations for the worst

“We will have to see what happens”, reacts Jan van der Wal calmly ( photo right). “The track of the cyclone may change, leading the storm surge more to the east, to the city of Chittagong and the coast of Myanmar”.

Meanwhile the people on the islands where the levees are still under construction people are being evacuated. According to Van der Wal this is not easy as the people are reluctant to leave their properties. There is no property protection.

“The levees are 7 meters high so maybe they will withstand the surge. The problem is however that the levees are new and not yet stabilized. It takes at least two years for a levee to develop enough strength. So it is not sure they will hold,” says Van der Wal.

No cyclone shelters
As the construction of the dikes is still going on, the planned cyclone shelters have not yet been build. Van der Wal: “Two years ago we completed a similar project on the Boyer Char and there we built 20 shelters. That is where people are now encouraged to go to.”

Dikes strong enough
Van der Wal is mostly concerned about the people safety. “Hopefully they will leave the chars. As for the new dikes we will have to wait and see if they will hold.”

Five new chars (in purple) are now being embanked. Other chars have been embanked earlier and have cyclone shelters.

The Char Development and Settlement Project phase IV, includes 100 km of new levees, several sluice gates and many drainage channels on five ‘chars’ islands. The new water system will protect the 150.000 inhabitants from flooding and will reduce the salt intrusion. This will allow the farmers eventually to grow their crops also outside the rain season.

The project started in March 2011 for a six year period.

Also read about the CDSP IV-project on this website.

Recent construction of a 7 m high levee as part of the CDSP IV-project.

A school building that serves as a cyclone shelter with an open ground floor.

Earlier cyclones that came up from the Indian Ocean to the funnel-shaped northern portion of the Bay of Bengal, where the deathly Bob01 in April 1991 (150,000 casualties), Sidr in November 2007 (2,000 casualties) and Nargis in May 2008 (over 138.000 casualties in Myanmar).

More information
Mott MacDonald
Arnhem, the Netherlands
+31 26 357 7111
www.mottmac.com
and
www.cdsp.org.bd

Water management and climate change adaptation expert, Peter Wijsman of consultancy firm Arcadis was recently elected to the Water Education Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Wijsman is an alumnus of the Water Education Foundation’s 2012 Water Leaders Program and joins four other newly elected board members.  

Great international experiences
At Arcadis, Wijsman is responsible for developing the firm’s water practice in Northern California with a focus on water management and ecosystem restoration.

Additionally, he has background in policy development and planning for municipal, regional and national flood risk management and waterresources related projects which he has put to use on projects in the Netherlands, South East Texas, New Orleans, New York and in the Florida Everglades.  

“As the Water Education Foundation looks back on 35 years of successful work on various water challenges, I’m excited to bring my experience and international perspective to resolving some of our most challenging water issues like water conservation, climate change and integrated water management,” said Peter Wijsman, principal in charge for Arcadis US.  

About the WEF foundation
The Water Education Foundation is nonprofit, impartial organization, that maintains a strong commitment to high standards of objectivity and balance in all its publications and programs, earning respect from all sides in the debate over water in California and the Southwest.

The Foundation’s mission is to create a better understanding of water issues and help resolve water resource problems through educational programs.

Leading this effort is a 30-member, voluntary Board of Directors comprised of individuals from a broad cross-section of the business, agricultural, municipal, environmental and public interest communities.

This news item was originally published on the website of Arcadis US

More information
Water Education Foundation
Sacramento, USA
+1 916  444 6240
www.watereducation.org

Arcadis US
Highlands Ranch/Denver, USA
+1 720 344 3500
www.arcadis-us.com

Strukton Immersion Projects, the Strukton company specialised in tunnel immersion technologies, has been awarded a contract to engineer and execute the floatation, transportation and immersion of eight concrete caissons, each weighing 21,000 tons.

A movable barrier mounted on the caissons will protect Venice from flooding. The project has been commissioned by the Venice authorities. The contract awarded to Strukton, valued at over 8 million euro, concerns the lagoon’s southern entrance, near Chioggia.

Strukton will perform this work for Clodia, an Italian contractor alliance. Engineering will commence immediately. Work will be executed and completed summer 2014.

MOSE flood barrier
Venice spans a group of small islands in the middle of a lagoon. For centuries it has suffered flooding from the Adriatic Sea, but these floods are becoming more and more frequent. Not only is the sea level rising, the city is also sinking into the soft soil.

As part of the MOSE project (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico), work has begun on the construction of a storm surge barrier to prevent further flooding, by sealing the lagoon off in case of high water.

Three entrances
The storm surge barrier system is made up of movable barriers being constructed at the three entrances to the lagoon, near Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. The barriers will only be closed in the case of extremely high water; the system is comparable to the Maeslant barrier in the Netherlands.

Martijn Smitt, director of Strukton Immersion Projects, comments: “Due to the nature of the activities and the many interfaces within the floatation, transport and placing process, this project will be handled by a dedicated, experienced team in close cooperation with the Clodia project organisation.”

About Strukton Immersion Projects
Strukton specialises in immersion and has previously been involved in numerous tunnel projects, including recent work on the Noord/Zuidlijn metro line in Amsterdam, the immersion of tunnel elements for the Busan-Geoje Link in South Korea and the Limerick tunnel in Ireland.

This news item was originally published on the website of Strukton Immersion Projects.

More information
Strukton Immersion Projects
Utrecht, the Netherlands
+31 30 248 67 19
www.struktonimmersionprojects.com

Compliance with European legislation is one of the reasons why Croatia and Bulgaria need to invest heavily in their water sectors in the coming years. The governments of the two countries asked Dutch consultancy firm Witteveen+Bos to answer some questions to put them on the right track: what is the optimum sizing of the sector, how is this achievable, and how do you organise it?

Scaling up
The drinking water infrastructure is largely organised locally in both countries, while development of the infrastructure for waste water is lagging way behind. Many of the water companies are small and are unable to undertake major investments. In many cases, there is also a lack of sufficient qualified staffing to manage and operate the infrastructure in a future-proof way.

The two countries have opted to address these problems by scaling up their water sectors.

Aggregating water companies
Witteveen+Bos identified ways of aggregating water companies with focus on improving efficiency by looking at different possibilities for mergers. A comparison of the results with sizing and organisational models elsewhere in Europe revealed the most suitable models.

The Dutch consultancy firm also directed considerable attention towards possibilities for implementing the measures taking into account geographical, cultural, technical and financial aspects.

The outcomes showed that aggregation will reduce the number of water companies in Croatia from 160 to over 20, and in Bulgaria from 64 to nearly 30. Croatia has opted for a public sector model, while Bulgaria has decided to give private market a role.

Implementation plan
Croatia was adviced on steps to set towards transforming its water sector. Preconditions included legal frameworks, local autonomy, shareholder structures, control over the companies, and greater capacity.

The consultancy also included mustering support within the water sector, municipalities and relevant ministries. An implementation plan and a development path are now before the Cabinet for decision-making.

The aim is to complete the entire operation within three years. Decision-making in Bulgaria is expected later in 2013.

This news item was originally plublished on the website of
Witteveen+Bos.

More information
Witteveen+Bos
Deventer, the Netherlands
+31 570 69 79 11
www.witteveenbos.com