Oosterweel Connection: Dredging kicks off for new Scheldt tunnel

The dredging operations required for the construction of the new Scheldt tunnel for the Oosterweel Connection started in the Scheldt off the Antwerp port area earlier this week.

According to oosterweelverbinding.be, this involves creating a temporary navigation channel so that the vessels can safely pass by the works and then a sinking trench so that the tunnel elements can be laid there next year.

In total, some 1.3 million m³ of soil will be dredged by the TM COTU consortium of contractors for the construction of the 1,8 km long Scheldt tunnel, one of the showpieces of the Oosterweel link.

Around 200.000 m³ of this is contaminated with oils and metals, among other things, and will be disposed of at processing centers.

The new tunnel, due to be commissioned in 2030, is set to connect the renovated Sint-Anna interchange on the Left Bank with the future Oosterweel interchange on the right bank, to which the planned Channel Tunnels – replacing the Merksem viaduct – will, in turn, connect.