Material pieces do not have eternal life, at least, not in their original form. But why scrap something if it can last for years in another function? Some great examples of this principle from Van den Herik’s recent history.

Not so long ago in the Netherlands we worked with bucket dredgers. A tool in which buckets on a kind of rotating chain around a ladder scoop sand and silt from the water bottom. Our 1965 Westergoo was such a bucket dredger. As of the late 1990s she was no longer in use and after lying unemployed in our harbor for quite some time, we gave her a second life.

Converted into unloading pontoon and flower box
For the Wadden Sea dike reinforcement project Ameland, from 2016 to 2019, the hull of the Westergoo was converted into a unloading pontoon. During this work, she was used to unload 600,000 tons of material on the island. The buckets are still serving as flower boxes somewhere on Ameland. After this, the Westergoo was deployed on various other projects, such as dike reinforcement Neer and the installation of new stone at the Oester Dam. The Westergoo is still part of our active fleet of equipment.

In this mindset, the crane pontoons Herik 22 and Herik 33, after years of service in that function, were also converted into sinking pontoons to give them a second life.

From pontoon to ferry landing
Another super example of “creativity meets circularity” is the ferry between Lekkerkerk and Nieuw-Lekkerland. We redesigned the ferry landing there in 2022, where the ferry docks and moors, on the Nieuw-Lekkerland side. When we read the specifications with the assignment for the ferry landing, we came up with the idea of refurbishing one of our old pontoons into a working ferry landing. No sooner said than done. Through a thorough renovation and thanks to good cooperation with the client, Municipality of Molenlanden, we were able to transform our old pontoon ‘Elisa’ into a beautiful ferry landing. Now she can last for years again!

So you see, he who keeps what has what, and with a little creativity and the will and courage to step off the beaten track, together you can come up with the most beautiful solutions!