Van Oord: Reducing carbon footprint at Hansweert dyke project

Van Oord presented the 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝘆𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 at InfraTech 2023.

Together with KWS, they are reinforcing the dyke over a distance of more than 5 kilometres.

Reducing the (carbon) footprint of this project is a leading principle, therefore the work is being carried out as sustainably as possible.

The approach focuses on all stages in the production.

“As a result, we are cutting the environmental impact by approximately 50%. We are also minimising carbon emissions through the use electric equipment on-site,” said Van Oord.

The dyke will be a key milestone in the journey to protecting the Dutch province of Zeeland against rising sea levels by 2050.

Reinforcing the dyke at Hansweert is a complex project.

In order for the dyke to meet the latest safety standard (1/100,000), a substantial intervention is needed, which includes increasing the crest height by 3 metres and widening the berm by some 15 metres.

However, there is little room to carry out the dyke reinforcement, due to the Western Scheldt being on one side of the dyke and the village centre on the other.

There are further restrictions because the dyke is part of a Natura 2000 site.

In addition, the changing of the seasons poses a challenge to the various implementation phases.

“To carry out this project, we are using a so-called two-phase approach. This is a relatively new type of contract that is increasingly common in the Netherlands,” said Van Oord.

“In the first phase, we were part of a construction team, working intensively with the client, the Scheldestromen Water Board and Witteveen+Bos Consulting engineers. This enabled us to apply our specific contractor knowledge very early on in the project.”

“This means that we can now start the second phase very well prepared.”