New sea lock, what's happening in July and August?

The following activities are scheduled for the coming months:

• The connection of the lock sill to the lock gate chamber of the inner head (number 1 in the picture).
• Dredging work in the new lock chamber (number 2 in the picture).
• The construction of the eastern part of the flood barrier on the north side (number 3 in the picture).
• In addition, the activities on the walls of the inner lock head will continue throughout July and August.

The connection of the lock sill to the lock gate chamber of the inner head

To connect the lock sill to the lock gate chamber of the inner head (number 1 in the picture), OpenIJ will be working on the final part of the floor of the lock sill. The lock sill is needed so that the lock gate can move in and out of the lock gate chamber when the lock is being closed and opened.

Dredging operations in the lock chamber

Dredging operations in the lock chamber (number 2 in the picture) will commence by the end of June. These dredging operations will produce more than 600,000 m3 of sand.

The sand will be transported by dredger ‘Biesbosch’ to spray pontoon ‘Steenbok’ by means of a pressure pipeline over land and a floating pipeline on the water. The spray pontoon will manoeuvre in the Noorderbuitentoeleidingskanaal (outer approach channel to the North Lock) to dump the sand in the - for this purpose - specially deepened part of the fairway.

Trailing suction hopper dredger ‘Shoalway’ will dredge up this sand out of the deepened part of the fairway to bring it to the dumping area in the North Sea.

This working method has been coordinated with the Port Authority and the Pilot Organisation and will be carried out in such a way that the floating pipeline and the spray pontoon will cause minimal disruption to shipping. Ingoing ships to and outgoing ships from the IJmuiden North Lock can pass without being hindered by the sand spraying activities.

Concreting operations for the flood barrier on the north side

The eastern part of the flood barrier on the north side (number 3 in the picture) will be constructed in the next few months. The flood barrier on the north side will be about 550 metres long at a height of 8.85 metres above NAP. A road and a bicycle track will be constructed on top of this 9.5-metre-wide flood barrier.