LANTIS, the project developer responsible for the prestigious ‘Oosterweel link’, which will complete the Antwerp Ring Road, has awarded the contract for the construction of the Scheldt tunnel to the Tijdelijke Handelsvereniging Combinatie Oosterweeltunnel (THV COTU) consortium today.
THV COTU is composed of the Belgian construction groups DEME, BESIX, BAM Contractors and Jan De Nul, and the total contract value is EUR 570 million. Eight tunnel elements of approximately 60,000 tonnes each will be built in the inner port of Zeebrugge and then towed to Antwerp via the North Sea and the Western Scheldt, where they will be immersed in a pre-dredged trench in the River Scheldt in Antwerp.
“THV COTU is well aware of the challenges that such a project brings with it in a technically difficult environment such as the Scheldt. But the partners are confident that they have the necessary expertise and decades of experience to successfully achieve the realisation of this vital stage of the Oosterweel link project,” said DEME in their release.
The first preparatory work will start in the autumn of 2020 and the construction work for the tunnel itself will begin after the summer of 2021.