Rijkswaterstaat awards construction of the new sea lock at IJmuiden to Consortium OpenIJ
After a lifetime of almost 100 years, the Northern lock in IJmuiden needs replacement. Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Highways and Waterways Agency) has awarded the construction of the new IJmuiden sea lock, which is located at the entrance to the North Sea Canal, officially to the Consortium OpenIJ. This consortium, consisting of BAM-PGGM and VolkerWessels-DIF will be responsible for design, construction, financing and maintenance of the new lock for a period of 26 years.
Port of Amsterdam
A new, larger lock system will improve the accessibility of the port of Amsterdam and stimulate the local economy by offering space to the growing ships independent of the tidal levels. The new lock will be 70 meters wide, 500 meters long and 18 meters deep. Construction will start early 2016 and the new lock will be available for shipping at the end of 2019.
Coorporation
Rijkswaterstaat, the Province of North Holland, the City of Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam NV and the Municipality of Velsen work together in the realization of this new large sea lock at IJmuiden. This project is co-funded by the TEN-T programme of the European Union.
OpenIJ
OpenIJ is formed by the participants BAM-PGGM and VolkerWessels-DIF. After contract close all construction activities will be carried out by BAM and VolkerWessels. The dredging activities will be carried out by subcontractors Van Oord and Boskalis.