Dutch King Willem-Alexander Visits Marker Wadden

Dutch King Willem-Alexander yesterday toured the first finished island of the Marker Wadden in the Markermeer (Lake Marken), near Lelystad, the Netherlands.

The Marker Wadden is a project aimed at creating five islands in the Markermeer.

The construction of four new islands of the Marker Wadden archipelago was officially inaugurated in March by Dutch Transport Minister, Melanie Schultz van Haegen.

The islands are being constructed by Boskalis on behalf of nature conservation organization Natuurmonumenten and national department of public works Rijkswaterstaat, and are expected to be ready by 2018.

By 2020 the whole archipelago is expected to be ready, covering 1000 ha of land, marshes and mud plains.

Last year Boskalis completed the construction of the first 250ha island. The work was limited to the construction of a rock dam to protect the island from storms and some silt dams and beaches.

These dams will trap the silt sediment of the lake that is essentially too soft for building an island.

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