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Rotterdam is expanding its port with Maasvlakte 2, a huge project for which land is reclaimed from the
sea. The new, 2,000 hectares port area is taking shape at an unparalleled speed.
More than two thirds of the 240 million cubic metres of sand that are needed for the first stage of Maasvlakte 2
have already been dumped.
The gigantic port expansion project is well on target. Simultaneously to raising the soil, work has started on
the first quay wall and the 'rigid' seawall is being built on the outside of the new land. The new coastline is
clearly visible from above. Eight trailing suction hopper dredgers from dredging
companies Boskalis and Van Oord sail daily to and from between the sand collection site in the
North Sea and the port expansion site. At the same time, measurements are taken to verify that neither
transporting the sludge nor raising the soil has an unfavourable impact on nature.
For the past year, a bulk carrier has delivered 90,000 tonnes of stones every fortnight. The stones
come from Bremanger, about two hundred kilometres north of the Norwegian seaport of Bergen. In total,
around five million tonnes of Norwegian stones protect Maasvlakte 2 against the sea with so-called 'stony
dunes' fourteen metres high over a length of four kilometres.
Part of this 'rigid' seawall consists of a dam made of 20,000 concrete blocks, each weighing 40 tonnes.
The blocks come from the dam currently protecting the existing Maasvlakte.
The new seawall is designed in such a way that Maasvlakte 2 is protected against the strongest gales
that might occur once every 10,000 years.
A special machine, the Blockbuster, was developed and built for repositioning the blocks. This crane can
place the blocks in the sea as far as fifty metres from the shore, with an accuracy of 15 centimetres.
Acoustic cameras determine the correct position of the blocks under water in order to stack them in a way that
will result in a super-strong dam.
Besides raising the new port area and creating shore protection, construction is also under way for the
quay wall of the Rotterdam World Gateway container terminal. The quay wall is built on the raised sand
and reaches a depth of forty metres. To this end, a deep trench is dug into the sand that is then filled with
a fluid called bentonite to prevent collapsing. After that, reinforcement is placed in the trench, concrete is
poured and the bentonite is then pumped away. On the shore side, the quay wall is reinforced with long
piles, placed askew. The quay floor is subsequently poured at ground level.
Once the quay wall is ready, the port side sand will be dredged away. During the first stage of the new
terminal, the quay will have a length of one thousand metres for deep-sea container vessels. There will also
be a quay of five hundred metres for feeder ships and inland vessels.
The construction of Maasvlakte 2 is on schedule. Building of the quay wall for the second container
terminal, that of APM Terminals, will commence in early 2011. The last gap in the seawall will be closed
in mid-2012; the construction of the road and railway can then begin.
As soon as those are ready, work will start on cutting the existing and widened Yangtzehaven, the nautical
access to Maasvlakte 2. According to the plan, the first container ship should moor in the new Rotterdam port
area in 2013.
The construction of Maasvlakte 2 can be followed up close. At the visitors centre, FutureLand, the focus is on
'seeing, doing and experiencing'. One can also take a trip around the new port area aboard the FutureLand Express.
For further information:
www.maasvlakte2.com
www.futureland.nl
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