IJmuiden Sea Lock Getting Ready

The construction activities on the site of the new sea lock in IJmuiden are in full swing, said Port of Amsterdam.

More than 200,000 m3 of concrete have now been poured and still more will be poured in January and February, including concrete for the inner lock head (number 1 in the picture) and for the lock chamber (number 3 in the picture).

Also in January and February, work will continue on the completion of the lock gates and on the local control buildings - which are now taking shape (numbers 4 in the picture).

After a 44-day voyage from South Korea via Cape of Good Hope, the lock gates for the new sea lock finally arrived in the Netherlands on 6 December.  The lock gates - floating in the water - will be transported by tug from Rotterdam via IJmuiden to the OpenIJ Logistics Centre in the port of Amsterdam as soon as the weather permits.

One lock gate will be moored in the lock chamber of the new sea lock to be completed on-site. The other two will be completed in the port of Amsterdam.

At the inner head (number 1 in the picture), OpenIJ is busy with the final concreting works before the sinking operation of this lock gate chamber. Partitions are being installed in the lock gate chamber of the inner head to ensure that the caisson will remain stable during the sinking operation.

As soon as the lock gate has been moored in the lock chamber of the new lock, the cofferdam for the lock sill (number 2 in the picture) will be closed. This will create the necessary space for the construction of the lock sill opposite the inner head.

In the coming period, the final concreting of the southern and northern lock chamber walls (numbers 3 in the picture) will be carried out. The top of the concrete walls will be covered by what are called cover slabs. Cover slabs are steel plates installed as a smooth rounded finish on top of the brickwork covering the lock chamber walls.

Also in the coming period, work will start on the construction of the local control buildings (numbers 4 in the picture) situated on both sides of the Lock Operation Centre. One will be built near the inner lock head; the other near the outer lock head.

The lock gates can be operated and controlled from these buildings. Together, the Lock Operation Centre (SOC) and the local control buildings are responsible for the control and operating of the new sea lock.

The cofferdam for the lock sill of the outer head (number 5 in the picture) has been sunk to its required depth. The future outer gate will run on the lock sill when the lock must be opened or closed. The lock sill cofferdam has been sunk to a depth of 22 metres below NAP.