One down, seven to go – first Scheldetunnel element successfully immersed

DEME Group said that the last week marked a spectacular milestone in the Oosterweel Link project: the first tunnel element of the Scheldetunnel has been immersed and is now in place beneath the Scheldt River in Antwerp.

This achievement is the result of years of design, construction and engineering – and it signals the successful start of one of the most technically demanding phases of the Oosterweel project, DEME said.

In recent weeks, the first four of a total of eight tunnel elements were successfully transported to Antwerp – temporarily housed in the Doeldok.

With maximum storage capacity of this dock reached, the carefully coordinated process of sinking the elements started: each segment is placed step by step on the bottom of the Scheldt.

Each concrete tunnel segment measures 160 meters long, 42 meters wide, and 10 meters high, with a weight of approximately 60,000 tons.

The Scheldt Tunnel is the final piece of the Oosterweel link, featuring two tubes for car traffic, a special emergency tube, and a six-metre-wide cycle tube.

This tunnel will not only provide Antwerp with an additional underpass beneath the Scheldt for road traffic, but from 2028, it will also establish a safe, direct cycle connection between the Left and Right Banks. Car traffic will follow in 2030, with the entire Oosterweel link opening in 2033.