Construction work on the IJmuiden Sea Lock Project has continued during the summer holidays, reports the Port of Amsterdam.
According to the port, OpenIJ has worked hard in August, placing reinforcement steel for the lock gate recesses in order to start concreting in September.
“ Concreting of the floors of both inner and outer lock gate recesses will start this month. Both floors will need the astonishing amount of 4,000 cubic meters of concrete. Work on the lock chamber walls will continue as before ,” the port said.
The port also added that OpenIJ is working on a last temporary small land reclamation project to increase the area of the lock island southwest of the North Lock.
The cofferdams for the lock gate recesses
The lock gate recesses for the future lock gates are constructed in the cofferdams. There will be three lock gates in total. The outer head will be fitted out with one lock gate while the inner head will be fitted out with two: the active lock gate and the spare lock gate installed in the maintenance dock.
Installation of sheet pile walls for the temporary flood defense
In the water on the east side of the new lock, the cofferdams for the lock sill of the inner lock gate have recently been built. They are constructed of steel tubular piles installed in front of the sheet pile wall. OpenIJ will also install sheet pile walls on the other side of the new lock.
For land reclamation purposes, sheet piles will be installed in the small area of water at the southwestern corner of the North Lock. This extra space is needed for the construction of the flood defense and the road after which work on the northwestern corner of the new sea lock can be started.