Sustainable dyke reinforcement

In the coming years, the dyke along the Dutch River Lek will be reinforced over a length of 55 kilometres from Amerongen to Schoonhoven.

The Water Board has therefore opted for the Innovation Partnership approach to tendering, which involves close collaboration with three Innovation Partners: Van Oord, Mourik Infra and the consortium Heijmans Infra – GMB Civiel – de Vries & van de Wiel (the Lek ensemble).

The collaboration started with the signing of the collaboration agreement on 26 August.

The work is part of the Netherlands’ Flood Protection Programme.

This is the biggest dyke reinforcement operation since the Delta Works, involving more than 1,300 kilometres of dyke reinforcement over the next 30 years.

The Water Board ensures the safety of the dykes, but it also has high ambitions regarding sustainability and innovation, ambitions that can be achieved with an Innovation Partnership.

The signing of the cooperation agreement marks the start of the unique partnership between the Water Board and the Innovation Partners.

Collaboration is a mainstay of the Innovation Partnership approach, and takes place at three levels: innovation, the actual process, and the social level.

The Innovation Partners have a wide range of dyke reinforcement innovations available. In the coming period, studies will take place to determine which are the best ones to implement.