Rijkswaterstaat has awarded Van den Herik-Sliedrecht the contract to maintain and monitor the waterway bottoms in South Holland for the next 5 years. Dredging is an important activity within this contract. Our approach to reducing CO2 emissions was the decisive factor in awarding this contract.
Start of work
The acreage includes a number of important international transport routes for shipping. Some of the waterways are busy and operated at high speeds. From July 1, 2024, we started keeping these shipping channels at depth. The contract also includes the maintenance of 7 locks within South Holland.
Scope
This performance contract includes maintaining the depth of the Oude Maas shipping channels (upstream from the Spijkenisse Bridge), the Dordtse Kil and Hollands Diep including the Moerdijk crossing. Also included in this contract are keeping the main shipping lanes Nieuwe Maas, Upper and New Merwede, the North and main shipping lanes Bergsche Maas, Lek, Amer, Hollandse IJssel and other shipping lanes Zuiddiepje, Wantij and nature reserve Brabantse- and Zuid-Hollandse Biesbosch in West-Nederland South (South Holland). Finally, seven locks such as the Volkerak locks and the Algera lock also need to be maintained.
“It is very important for smooth and safe navigation that our waterways remain at depth and our locks function properly. That is why we are pleased to have a professional partner like Van den Herik who will carry out this important work for us.”
Maarten Janknegt – Rijkswaterstaat project manager
“We like the task of getting and keeping our ‘own backyard’ that we frequently use with our fleet in top condition.”
Jan Huijbers – Director Van den Herik-Sliedrecht
Environmental Cost Indicator (EQI)
Rijkswaterstaat wants to minimize its CO2 emissions and the impact the emissions have. The goal is to work in a climate-neutral way by 2030. The MKI is an important instrument for this. For this maintenance contract, too, the MKI proved to be a decisive factor. RWS uses the environmental cost indicator to calculate the environmental impact of infrastructure works. The lower the value, the lower the environmental impact and the greater the contribution to CO2 reduction.
For each dredging section and soil type, we carefully considered which piece of equipment could perform the work with the least emissions, which resulted in a special mix of equipment.
In this project, maritime (hoppers) and inland navigation (crane vessels) come together to get the job done.