Maasvlakte 2

Maasvlakte 2: Rotterdam port expansion

Our Client
Our client, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, aims to boost the competitiveness of the Port of Rotterdam as a world-class logistical node and industrial complex. That is the reason behind the Maasvlakte 2 project, which will extend the existing port and industrial zone on the west side by creating an outstanding new location for port activities and industry in the North Sea - an area that will be known as Maasvlakte 2.

Our work
PUMA (Project Organisation for the Expansion of the Maasvlakte), a joint venture between the Dutch dredging and marine contractors Boskalis and Van Oord, is designing and executing the first phase of the project and will be responsible for its maintenance. PUMA has spent more than two years on the design, work that involved developing and introducing various design innovations related to the hard sea defences.

PUMA is deploying trailing suction hopper dredgers on the land reclamation work. The vessels will transport 200 million m3 of sand from the offshore extraction site to create the new land along the coast. Cutter suction dredgers are being used to deepen the port basin to -20 m NAP (Normal Sea Level at Amsterdam), so that even the biggest container ships can dock there. This part of the work will produce 40 million m3 of sand that will also be reused in the project.

One important part of the project is the construction of the overall sea defences. The contract proposal described a breakwater with a dynamic transitional structure consisting of a hard seawall and soft sea defences in the form of a pebble beach. An optimisation procedure brought a different design to light. The hard seawall will be approximately 3.5 km long and consist of a stone-covered dune covered by a pebble beach; this will be situated behind a low concrete block dam resting on a multilayer foundation of marine building stone. It was PUMA that came up with the idea of using the dynamic pebble beach as a sea defence. This is the first time that this concept is being used in the Netherlands. A total of 20,000 concrete blocks will be used to construct the seawall, each one weighing approximately 40 tonnes. A further 2 million tonnes of quarry stone will be recycled from the present Maasvlakte seawall. In all, 7 million tonnes of quarry stone will be required to construct the seawall and pebble beach. The additional 5 million tonnes needed to complete the seawall will be purchased in northern and western Europe. Most of the soft seawall will be made of Pleistocene sand.

The project also involves constructing the quays, roads, railways and cycle paths.

Our results
Maasvlakte 2 is a new area in the Port of Rotterdam. Phase one of Maasvlakte 2 will be ready for use in 2013. PUMA will be responsible for maintaining the outer contours of the new area for another five years after that. The Maasvlakte 2 area will ultimately encompass a total of 1000 ha (net) of industrial complex located directly on deep and navigable water.

Progress
In January 2009, the HAM 316 deposited the first load of sand for the outer contours of the Maasvlakte 2 area. Approximately 170 million m3 of sand have been excavated and deposited so far (November 2010). Besides sand excavation, PUMA is currently working on the hard sea defences and the quay walls.

Please click here for our short film about the Maasvlakte 2 project.

For more information please also see www.maasvlakte2.com of www.puma-mv2.nl.