Damen Shipyards Group has just released this very interesting story in their Magazine about Damen DOP pumps’ work at Dutch Royal Palace ‘Het Loo’ in Apeldoorn, the former Royal residence of King William and Queen Mary Stuart.
Built in the 17th century, it served as their residence and hunting lodge. For the past 3 decades, the Royal Palace has been a museum showcasing Dutch Royal collections and the fabulous formal gardens.
Due to the ever increasing flow of visitors, the Palace badly needed a refurbishment. It was decided to close the Palace for visitors, and create a new space to welcome the visitors in style.
This new welcome includes a large underground area, located between the 2 wings of the Palace. For this, the central courtyard, or “Bassecour” as it is known, is transformed into a building pit. And that is where Damen’s interest lies – the central area is excavated by means of Damen DOP pumps.
The job started with archaeological excavations in the top soil, followed by removing the top soil dry, that is using excavators with buckets.
To minimize truck movements in the relatively densely populated area, it was decided to pump the sand to the spoil field, requiring a pipe line only – and no continuous truck movements.
Ballast Nedam Specialistisch Grondverzet does this job as subcontractor for Volker Staal en Funderingen (VSF).