Contractor PUMA completes first part of Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

April 18th, 2013 by nwp

Dredging companies Boskalis and Van Oord delivered the first stage of Maasvlakte 2 to client Port of Rotterdam Authority on 17 April: on schedule, on budget and in accordance with the quality requirements specified.

PUMA, the joint venture of the two contractors, started the expansion of the port of Rotterdam five years ago.

Today the realisation of 700 hectares of new industrial sites, 11 kilometres of seawall, 3.5 kilometres of quay wall, 24 kilometres of roads, 14 kilometres of rail and 560 hectares of port basin is a fact.

First ships expected in May
The work now completed by PUMA is the lion’s share of the construction of Maasvlakte 2.

The Port Authority is currently working on the nautical accessibility of Maasvlakte 2; the installation of leading lights and buoys for shipping will enable Maasvlakte 2 to be opened to ships on 22 May.

In the coming year work will continue in full swing on infrastructure on the boundary between the existing port area and Maasvlakte 2.

Innovative design
The Port Authority had a budget of 1.9 billion euro for the construction of this first stage of Maasvlakte 2. The contract with PUMA is by far the largest and most striking part of the work. For this contract, with a value exceeding 1.1 billion euro, the Port Authority chose a Design, Construction and Maintenance contract.

This allowed Boskalis and Van Oord to demonstrate their innovative added value. In collaboration with the client, the design of the hard seawall was optimised as a stony dune with a block dam in front of it as a breakwater.

The gale which this innovative seawall should be able to resist occurs in statistical terms only once every 10,000 years. Scale testing demonstrated the real effectiveness of the design prior to construction.


Construction of the block dam with the specially designed Blockbuster crane.

10 years of maintenance
The contract includes a maintenance period of 10 years. Boskalis and Van Oord have undertaken to keep the entire seawall at optimum strength until 2023. Similar to the entire Dutch coastline, sand will also have to be added here to the soft seawall. Following every severe gale, the hard seawall will also be inspected and, if necessary, the cobble beach will have to be replenished.

This news item was originally published on the website Maasvlakte 2.

More information
Project organization Maasvlakte 2
Port of Rotterdam
+31 10 252 10 10
www.maasvlakte2.com

Posted in News.

Boskalis wins hefty dredging contract for fairway to port of Hamburg

April 10th, 2013 by nwp

Royal Boskalis Westminster has acquired a contract from Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Cuxhaven to maintain part of the shipping fairway of the River Elbe in Germany spanning a distance of 110 kilometers.

The contract was awarded for a period of three years and has a value of approximately 75 million euro. The activities are to commence in May 2013.

Access to port of Hamburg
The dredging activities are related to maintaining the shipping fairway of the River Elbe between the city of Wedel northward in the direction of Cuxhaven. The river is an important shipping connection between the North Sea and the Port of Hamburg, where Boskalis recently maintained the port’s basins.

The Port of Hamburg is the third largest port in Europe after Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 2011 this important European logistics hub was the port of call for around 10,000 ocean-going vessels with freight volumes totaling 132.2 million tons.

Three-year contract
During the three-year contract period a total of around 28 million cubic meters of sand and silt will be removed, transported and placed at designated areas along the river.

For this project a medium to large-sized trailing suction hopper dredger along with smaller trailing suction hopper dredgers for the shallow areas will be deployed.

About Boskalis
Royal Boskalis Westminster is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world with the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection.

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

More information
Royal Boskalis Westminster
Papendrecht, the Netherlands
+31 78 696 9000
www.boskalis.com


Posted in News.

Boskalis acquires two years contract for deeping and widening port of Mumbai, India

August 6th, 2012 by nwp

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has acquired a contract with port operator Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for deepening and widening the port and access channel of JNPT in Mumbai, India.

The contract has a total value of approximately EUR 175 million. The dredging work will commence in September 2012 and is expected to take two years to complete.

Jumbo sized hopper and cutter suction dredgers
The expansion comprises the deepening and widening of the 33.5 kilometers’ long access channel, the port basins and turning basins. In total, approximately 67 million cubic meters of sand, silt, clay and rock will be removed. For this project, a jumbo and medium sized trailing suction hopper dredgers will be used in combination with a jumbo cutter suction dredger and a large backhoe.

Largest container port of India
Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the largest container port in the country with an annual handling capacity of 4.3 million TEU. By deepening the port from the current 11.5 meters to over 14 meters, it will be possible to receive larger types of container vessels and as a result, according to the port operator, the annual capacity will increase to approximately 10 million TEU.

Responding to demand of global trade
The Boskalis strategy is designed to benefit from the key macro-economic drivers that fuel global demand in our selected markets: global trade, increasing energy consumption, population growth and the challenges of changing climate conditions. This project is driven by the demand for global trade.

This press release was originally published on the webite of the Royal Boskalis Westminister.

More information
Royal Boskalis Westminster
Papendrecht, the Netherlands
+31 78 6969 000
www.boskalis.com


Grotere kaart weergeven

Posted in News.

Seawall around Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte closed

July 13th, 2012 by nwp

At slack water, on July 11th, the gap in the seawall of the Maasvlakte 2 is closed. Three dredging vessels of Van Oord and Boskalis worked together to link the northern and southern sections of the outer contour of the new constructed part of the Rotterdam habour in the North Sea.

Her Majesty the Queen gave the starting signal for the closure on 11 July.

For the construction of the new harbour, up to now, around 215 million cubic metres of sand have been sprayed on. The seawall is complete, apart from the closure gap. To the north and north-west lies the 3.5 km long hard seawall, consisting of a stony dune and a block dam. This was finished in February 2012.

Connection between hard and soft sea wall
The structure is unique in the Netherlands, due to the combination of stony dune and block dam, for which almost 20,000 blocks of concrete from the seawall of the existing Maasvlakte were recycled.

The soft seawall in the west and south-west is 7.5 km long and consists of a beach with 14 metre high dunes. In 2011, the whole length of the dunes was planted with marram grass.

The closure took place in phases. In May, the trailing suction dredger Prins der Nederlanden began rainbowing operations near to the closure gap. Bulldozers, cranes and shovels are being used to get the sand into the right profile.

Reducing the current
On the northern side of the closure gap, on the outer side of the seawall, the trailing suction dredger Vox Máxima has sprayed on a ‘sand cone’. This mass of sand will form part of the seawall, but by applying this already the current will be reduced for the dredgers during the closure operations.

Raising a sand bar in the gap
In the gap in the outer contour, a bar was been applied crosswise at – 8 m New Amsterdam Water Level (NAP) and later raised to -1.5 m NAP.

Final closure of the gap
If the seawall is closed around the time of slack water, one trailing suction dredger and the suction cutter dredger Edax, which is temporarily ‘trapped’ in Maasvlakte 2, will continue to apply sand in the planned dune profile.

The whole seawall will be at the right height and width by mid-August.

Also read: Maasvlakte2 blockbuster reaches main land building hard seawall (December30, 2011)

This news item (with video) was originally published in the website of Maasvlakte 2/Port of Rotterdam.

More information
Project organization Maasvlakte 2
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 (0)10 252 10 10
info@maasvlakte2.com
www.maasvlakte.com/en


Posted in News.

The Dutch coastline has permanently changed

July 12th, 2012 by nwp

As from July 11th 2012, the Dutch coastline has permanently changed. Queen Beatrix gave the sign for the closure of the seawall of Maasvlakte 2. At slack water, when there was minimal current, the large equipment of contractors Boskalis
and Van Oord closed the gap in the eleven-kilometre long seawall.

Hans Smits, President and CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “After 3.5 years of hard work, today we reached a major milestone. The seawall around Maasvlakte 2 has been closed and these 2,000 hectares of new Netherlands are properly protected against the sea.”

At the end of 2008, the Port of Rotterdam Authority commenced construction of Maasvlakte 2, the land reclamation project in the North Sea for the development of the port of Rotterdam. The construction of the new port area is on schedule, and the first container terminals will be operational in 2014. This project changes the map of the Netherlands. The port of Rotterdam grows by 20%, the Netherlands becomes 2,000 hectares larger, and the coastline is 3.5 km further in the sea.

Seawall
That new coastline is now approaching its completion. Its construction took place from two sides over the past years. On the northern side, alongside the navigation channel to the port, 3.5 km of hard seawall was built. The construction is unique in the Netherlands due to the stony dune in combination with a block dam for which almost 20,000 concrete blocks from the seawall of the existing Maasvlakte were reused. On the south side, a soft seawall of 7.5 km was built, made up of beach with dunes of 14 metres high. The dune has been planted along its entire length with marram grass. The beach on the south side has been widened by 100 metres so that beachgoers can enjoy a lovely wide beach at high tide as well. Today the gap between these two sections was closed.

Closure
Since the middle of June, the trailing suction hopper dredgers Prins der Nederlanden and Vox Máxima and the cutter suction dredger Edax have been bringing the last 10 million cubic metres of sand to the missing section of seawall between the sand and the stony dune. Today the three dredgers are joining forces to connect the northern and southern sections of the outer contour. This first large sand closure since the construction of the Philipsdam 25 years ago is an impressive exploit of the hydraulic engineering contractors Boskalis and Van Oord, united in PUMA (Projectorganisatie Uitbreiding Maasvlakte).

Pride of Holland
The construction of Maasvlakte 2 is a part of the Pride of Holland. The two large Dutch hydraulic engineering companies Boskalis and Van Oord constructed this new land in a very short time. The new area is expected to enable the activities in the port of Rotterdam to continue to grow, certainly in the coming 20 to 25 years. That is good for international trade, good for the position of Rotterdam as the gateway to Europe and good for employment.

Source: press release Port of Rotterdam.
Photo credits: Freek van Arkel
More information: www.maasvlakte2.com

Posted in Features, News.

Boskalis contracted for gas pipe line off Australian coast

April 18th, 2012 by nwp

Royal Boskalis Westminster has received a letter of award from the Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem in relation to the offshore project for the Ichthys gas export pipeline development near Darwin, Northern Australia. The project value to Boskalis amounts to approximately 200 million euro.

Japanese oil company Inpex is the main developer of the Ichthys project and Boskalis will work on behalf of Saipem (Portugal) Comércio Marítimo.

Ichthys gas fields
The Ichthys development revolves around the construction of a new 42-inch deep sea natural gas pipeline from the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin 880 kilometers to Darwin onshore. The pipeline will run through the Darwin harbor, requiring dredging services in the near shore area, rock installation and the construction of a landfall.

Work starts in 2013
For Boskalis, the contract entails dredging an 18 kilometers pipeline trench in which the gas pipeline will be laid, a pipe-pull over a distance of approximately 3,000 meters and the installation of a protective layer of rock after the pipeline has been laid.

A cofferdam and winch platform will be constructed at the waterline edge to build the landfall. Work is set to commence mid 2013 and is expected to be completed by mid 2015.

Two large backhoe dredging vessels
For the pipeline trenching and landfall construction, Boskalis will deploy two large backhoe dredging vessels. The rock for the post-lay installation will be sourced from a local quarry and will be placed using side stone dumping vessels. The services of SMIT Subsea as well as miscellaneous ancillary equipment will be used during the course of the project.

Increasing energy demand
The Boskalis strategy is designed to benefit from the key macro-economic drivers that fuel global demand in selected markets: global trade, increasing energy consumption, population growth and the challenges of changing climate conditions. This project is driven by increasing energy consumption.

This press release was originally published on the website of Boskalis.

More information
Boskalis Westminster
Papendrecht, the Netherlands
+31 78 6969 000
www.boskalis.com


Posted in News.

Salvage team Smit/Boskalis removes last oil from Costa Concordia

March 23rd, 2012 by nwp

The last oil is pumped from the cruise ship Costa Concordia. On The morning of March 24, at 07.30 CET, SMIT Salvage successfully completed its assignment on the removal of fuel from the Costa Concordia.

Over the last couple of days, the SMIT Salvage diving team was transferring heavy fuel oil from the last settling tank in the engine room. These last tanks were completed, closed and sealed off.

Pumping equipment to be demobilized
Acoording to Smit Salvage the entire oil removal process which lasted just over one month went smoothly and was executed in line with expectations. Most of the diving and pumping equipment is to be demobilized and brought back to Livorno onboard of the crane/work barge Meloria.

Smit Salavage will retain a small diving team and a diving foreman on the island under a so-called ‘caretaker contract’. The team will remain standby for designated emergency duties until a contractor is appointed for the removal of the entire ship

In mid-January the Costa Concordia capsized when it was too close to the coast of the Italian island.

Operarion stopped few times
Smit Salvage, a subsidiary of dredging company Boskalis, pumped 2380 cubic meters of heavy oil out of the ship wreck. Rough seas forced the company to stop the defueling operation a few times.

Measurements have shown that the water around the ship is not polluted.

The threath of an environmental disaster off the coast of Italy is over. This said mayor Sergio Ortelli of the island of Giglio on March 22.The mayor expects that the salvage of the 290-meter Costa Concordia will take ten to twelve months.

Read more on the defueling operation in our previous news item:
Costa Concordia: oil salvage operation under way again

More information
Smit Salvage
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 454 99 11
www.smit.com


Posted in News.

Costa Concordia: oil salvage operation under way again

February 14th, 2012 by nwp

Operations to pump thousands of potentially hazardous fuel from the tanks of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia began on February 12. Two weeks ago the crew of Smit Salvage/Boskalis had to stop the defueling operation when rough seas forced the company to disconnect the working crane barge from the ship wreck.

Defueling may take one month
The emptying of 15 of the Concordia’s fuel tanks where most of the ship’s roughly 2,400 tons of fuel are stored, may require as long as a month, officials said.

The Concordia ran aground near Giglio, a small island off Italy’s western coast, on January 13, after veering off its official course. The process of emptying the ship’s tanks was originally scheduled to start soon after the end of the search for the missing people.

Forward tanks first
The initial operation focused on the forward fuel tanks. Four of the six tanks had already been installed with a sealable flange during the first defueling attempt late January. As operations continue, the remaining tanks will also be prepared.

Weather looking good
According to Smit/Boskalis the weather forecast for the coming days looks good and pumping will continue around the clock as long as the favorable conditions continue.

Read more on the defueling operation in our previous news item:
Rough seas prevent Smit-Neri salavage team to start defueling Costa Concordia

More information
Smit
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 454 99 11
www.smit.com


Posted in News.

Rough seas prevents Smit-Neri salavage team to start defueling Costa Concordia

January 29th, 2012 by nwp

The Dutch-Italian salvage team of Smit Salvage and Fratelli Neri had installed two of the six forward fuel tanks with a sealed flange and were ready to pump out the fuel.

However rough seas prevented them to start defueling the half-sunk cruise ship Coast Concordia off the Italian coast. This was announced at the press conference on Saturday January 28th on the island Giglio.

Technical briefing at press conference
At a press conference Smit Salvage and Fratelli Neri provided a technical briefing on the oil removal operation. The team was preparing the four remaining tanks.

Together the forward tanks are estimated to hold approximately two thirds of the (intermediate) fuel oil in the casualty.


A diver places the first flange against the hull of the Costa Concordia.

Water in, oil out
The divers had already drilled into four of the six outer tanks and fixed valves on them: one on top, one on bottom. Later on hoses will then be attached to the valves and as the oil is sucked out of the upper hose, sea water is pumped in to fill the vacuum via the lower hose.

Low temperature of heavy fuel oil
In an interview with BBC salvage manager Bart Huizing of Smit explains that the low temperature of the heavy fuel oil akes the operation more difficult and he expects that they shal have to heat up the oil before it can be pumped up.


See the interview with Bart Huizing on the BBC-website.

Start first
Huizing: “This makes it difficult for us to predict at what rate we can pump. We need to start first”, said Huizing. “We don’t see a big risk in an oil spill but if weather deteriorates nobody can tell what the vessel will do.”

Waiting for better weather
Later that day Smit Salvage had to disconnect the crane barge Melori from the cruise ship and brought into the protective port of the island Giglio. Officials said the conditions might keep them from resuming work until midweek.

See an underwater movie and a hot tap animation of installing the seal flange and pumps: Boskalis

See the technical briefing of the fuel removal: Boskalis

More information
Smit Salvage/Boskalis
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 454 99 11
www.smit.com


Posted in News.

Smit Salvage prepared to remove fuel from cruise ship Costa Concordia

January 23rd, 2012 by nwp

A team of 35 employees of Smite Salvage, a company of Boskalis, is standby on the isle of Giglio for the removal of 2,400 tons fuel from the half-submerged cruise ship Costa Concordia. Before the operation can start the Italian authorities demanded additional measures. The most important is the stabilization of the ship.

Second oil boom and oil removal vessel
Other measures demanded, included a full bathometry survey to provide further insight into the seabed below the ship and the rock formations against which the ship is resting. Additionally Smit placed a second containment boom around the ship and put an emergency response oil removal vessel on site.

Green light expected any moment
Once the Italian authorities give the green light, Smit expects it will take two to four weeks to remove the fuel, depending on the weather. It will be the first step towards hauling the luxury liner away for a complete overhaul or cutting it up for scrap.

Upon becoming aware of the evacuation of the vessel, Smit approached the owners and underwriters of the Costa Concordia. In the days following the accident, a contract was awarded by the owners to Smit and local partners Tito Neri for the removal of the bunker oil and pollution control.

This news release was originally published on the website of Smit.

More information
Smit Salvage/Boskalis
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 454 99 11
www.smit.com


Posted in News.

Search for

 

Recent Posts

 

Participate

 

Categories

 

Tags

agriculture Aquatech Arcadis Australia awards Bangladesh Boskalis China climate adaptation coastline Colombia delta Deltares DHV dredging drinking water flood protection fresh water supply Fugro Grontmij harbours HKV Consultants India Indonesia Italy Netherlands Paques PWN Technologies rivers Room for the river Royal Haskoning Royal HaskoningDHV sanitation Singapore TU Delft UK Unesco-IHE USA Van Oord Vietnam waterfront water management water treatment Witteveen+Bos X-Flow
 

United Dutch water expertise

 

Archives