Autumn Update for the IJmuiden Sea Lock Project

OpenIJ – a consortium of construction companies building the world’s largest sea lock in IJmuiden, the Netherlands – has just released the latest update on the development project.

In the coming months, the space between the walls of the dividing dam and the walls of the northern part of the flood barrier will be filled with sand.

Work is also underway on the foundation of the rails for the upper wheel carriages on the walls of the outer head.

Building Consortium OpenIJ is also continuing the sinking operation of the inner head.

Dividing dam

The space between the walls of the dividing dam will be further filled with sand. The dividing dam is the connection between the IJmuiden Middle Lock and the new sea lock and will be part of the flood defense structure.

The flood defense will be built up to a newly required height of 8.85 meters above NAP. On top of the sand-filled space between the walls of the dividing dam a public road will be built so that in the future, road traffic can cross the canal via the locks.

Flood barrier on the north side

In the autumn, the space between the walls of the northern part of the flood barrier will be filled with sand. This is the flood barrier near the IJmuiden North Lock. This high-water barrier will also be built up to a height of 8.85 meters above NAP and will be part of the future public road across the locks.

Outer head

In the coming weeks, work will be carried out on the foundation of the rails on the walls of the lock gate chamber of the outer head.

The outer gate (the lock gate at the seaward side) will be installed in the outer head. The lock gate chamber of the outer head has already been sunk to its required depth and now OpenIJ can start building the foundation for the rails on top of the lock gate chamber.

On top of this foundation the foundation beam will be built with the pin track, the rails and, finally, the upper wheel carriages.

Inner head

The sinking operation of the lock gate chamber of the inner head is now well underway. This is the lock gate chamber in which the inner gate (the gate on the canal side) and the spare lock gate will be installed.

On working days (Monday to Friday), the sinking operation continues 24 hours a day. The sinking operation is stopped during weekends, but OpenIJ continues to monitor the situation 24/7, reported the Port of Amsterdam.

In total, the lock gate chamber will be sunk about 18 meters into the ground, up to a position of 25.5 meters below NAP.