OpenIJ Wins Amsterdam Sea Lock Deal

Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Highways and Waterways Agency, has officially awarded the construction of the new IJmuiden sea lock, located at the entrance to the North Sea Canal, to the Consortium OpenIJ.

The consortium, consisting of BAM-PGGM and Volker Wessels-DIF will be responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance of the new lock for a period of 26 years.

After contract close all construction activities will be carried out by BAM and VolkerWessels. The dredging activities will be carried out by subcontractors Van Oord and Boskalis.

A new, larger lock system is aimed at improving the accessibility of the port of Amsterdam and stimulating the local economy by offering space to the growing ships independent of the tidal levels.

The new lock will be 70 meters wide, 500 meters long and 18 meters deep. Construction will start early 2016 and the new lock will be available for shipping at the end of 2019.

Rijkswaterstaat, the Province of North Holland, the City of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam NV and the Municipality of Velsen work together in the realization of this new large sea lock at IJmuiden. This project is co-funded by the TEN-T programme of the European Union.