On January 20, the first out of three doors of the new sea lock arrived in IJmuiden, as Port of Amsterdam stated in its press release. The door was transmitted to its final destination by a tugboat across the North Sea. With a stopover on the Second Maasvlakte, the door has covered more than 26,000 km between South Korea and IJmuiden. The transport over the last 80 km took 30 hours and went smoothly.
According to the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, the door has the size of 72 meters long, 24 meters high and 11 meters wide has been towed floating to IJmuiden. The doors have air chambers so they stay afloat despite their weight of 3000 tons. Ballast tanks filled with water provided the stability.
He added that
That is a milestone for this project and the start of a new chapter in the construction of the largest sea lock in the world.
Since the project is weather dependent, high tide in IJmuiden is needed to drag the deep-set doors through the Noordersluis. Moreover, as the weather permits, the additional two doors will be towed from the Maasvlakte to IJmuiden.
Additionally, all the technology means needed for the project are manufactured in the Netherlands, according to the statement.
One of the doors will be completed in an excavated part of the future chamber of the new sealock. The other two in the western port area of Amsterdam.
Also, the three doors arrived in the Netherlands on December 6, being transferred from South Korea.
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However, on the expanded area of Maasvlakte, called ‘Second Maasvlakte’, the doors were removed from the transport ship the Talisman by partially sinking the ship.
This caused the doors to float. Then they are set right by tilting them 90 degrees.
Yet, this was impossible in IJmuiden because there was insufficient depth. In addition, during the sinking of the three doors, the ship would completely block the passage to and from the locks during a 24-hour period.
In order to provide space for ever-expanding seagoing vessels, in 2016 IJmuiden has been working on the construction of the largest sea lock in the world.
In conclusion, the new lock will be 500 meters long, 70 meters wide and 18 meters deep.
The project is a joint venture between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the province of Noord-Holland, the municipality of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam and the municipality of Velsen. Contractor consortium OpenIJ is building the new sea lock on behalf of Rijkswaterstaat.
The lock is expected to be operational in January 2022.
