Van Oord wraps up the Zeeland beach nourishment campaign

Van Oord has successfully carried out beach nourishment works along the coast of the Dutch province of Zeeland.

As a result, the coastline has been stabilised and coastal towns and infrastructure are well protected for the coming years.

The work was carried out by Van Oord’s three new hopper dredgers, including the Vox Alexia, which was christened in September. During the project execution, the vessels were powered by LNG, a more sustainable fuel.

To reinforce and protect the coast of Zeeland, Van Oord carried out sand replenishment at the Westkapelse Zeedijk and Nieuwvliet-Groede.

The hopper dredgers were used to collect sand from the seabed and pump it through a pipeline to the beach. On the beach, weather and wind will ensure further spreading and will enable the dunes to grow. In this way, the coast is being reinforced with the help of nature’s own forces.

“Thanks to the beach nourishment that companies like Van Oord carry out for us, the Netherlands remains well protected from the sea. We work not just with nature, but also in the midst of it,” said Silvester Vermunt, Contract Manager at Rijkswaterstaat. “To reduce emissions from the coastline maintenance work, we very much need the expertise and innovativeness of the contractors. Companies that take measures to reduce their nitrogen and CO2 emissions have an edge when tendering for sand replenishment contracts. We at Rijkswaterstaat are therefore pleased that Van Oord was immediately able to deploy these three new LNG-hopper dredgers for us along the Zeeland coast. Bon voyage, Vox Ariane, Vox Apolonia and Vox Alexia!“

In total, approximately 4 million cubic meters of sand were applied. This is important not just for the safety of the coast but also for preserving nature conservation areas, opportunities for recreation, and drinking water extraction.