Three Consortia to Bid on Port Project

Three consortia of dredging and construction companies have qualified for the construction of Maasvlakte 2. There is one purely Dutch combination, formed by Boskalis and Van Oord, a Belgian group, consisting of Dredging International and Jan de Nul, and an international combination, comprising the Dutch company Ballast Nedam and the Danish firm Per Aarsleff.

Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO: “The fact that there are three consortia in the race means there is healthy competition. I therefore expect a lot of creativity in the design process, followed by competitive prices.” This summer, the Port Authority went in search of parties able to implement the first contract for the construction of the 2000 ha port expansion in the North Sea. The estimated total cost of the project is 2.9 billion Euro, with the first contract being worth about a third of this.

The construction of Maasvlakte 2 will be tendered in a so-called design & construct contract. As far as scale goes, there are two variants: a so-called basic solution and a total solution. The first variant covers the construction of the hard seawall (dyke), digging through the current Maasvlakte 1 seawall on a level with theYangtzehaven, the construction of the soft sea defense (artificial dunes) and the spraying on of Maasvlakte 2 itself. The more extensive variant also involves the construction of the public infrastructure (some 10 kilometers of highway and railroad), the building of the first quay walls (approx. 1000 meters) and maintenance work on the sea defenses. The Port Authority is waiting to see what price the three come up with before deciding whether to grant just the basic scope or the total package to one of them.

The following phase of the tender is the so-called consultation phase. This is when the Port Authority and consortia of contractors will discuss the design and how it is to be executed. Harmonization with the ongoing environmental procedures (EIA) is an important part of all this. Construction methods and design can be co-coordinated with the EIA and vice versa in the coming six months.

In the summer of 2006, a proposal is expected from the consortia. After this has been assessed, negotiations will follow in the winter of 2006-2007. These must result, in the course of 2007, in a contract with one of the consortia, so that construction can start in the spring of 2008.