Texel beach nourishment project kicks off

Rijkswaterstaat and Boskalis recently commenced work on the Texel beach nourishment project in the Netherlands.

According to Rijkswaterstaat, maintenance of the Texel coastline kicked off in early September and will continue until the spring of 2023.

For this project, Boskalis will dredge and pump a total of 2.5 million m3 of sand onto the beach. The sand is being dredged from an offshore borrow area in the North Sea, located 10 to 12 km from the Texel coast.

“Boskalis’ hopper dredgers are sucking up sand from the seabed, then they bring sand to the coast and pump it to the beach via pipeline where the sand is spread evenly with bulldozers,” said Rijkswaterstaat.

During the 2020-2021 season, the Dutch agency carried out a similar campaign in Texel, only this time the sand was delivered just off the coast (foreshore nourishment).

Similar to the Texel project, Rijkswaterstaat carries out regular beach nourishment works along the Dutch coastline. The country’s coast losses sand quickly under the influence of wind, waves and currents.

By adding new sand Rijkswaterstaat keeps the coast in place and in good condition.