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The new sea lock – what’s happening in November and December?

In the last two months of this year, OpenIJ will be busy with the installation of pipes and cables and with the construction of the road next to the guard wall (number 1 in the picture). Work also continues on the lock sill of the outer head (number 2 in the picture) and on the lock operating consoles in the Lock Operation Centre (number 3 in the picture); OpenIJ is also working on the removal of the partitions in the lock gate chamber of the inner head (number 4 in the picture).

Image credit: Port of Amsterdam

Guard wall
The concreting operations on the guard wall (number 1 in the picture) have been completed. These concreting operations were necessary to bring the flood defence structure to the required height and to create the approach channel for ships navigating to the new sea lock. In the coming period, OpenIJ will be working near the guard wall for the final installation of pipes and cables and for the final construction of the road.

Lock sill of the outer head
Open IJ is currently busy with the construction of the floor of the lock sill of the outer head (number 2 in the picture). The builders are connecting the floor of the lock sill to the lock gate chamber of the outer head. In the future, the new sea lock’s outer gate will run across the lock sill. The underside of this two-metre thick concrete floor lies at a depth of 21.50 metres below NAP.

Lock Operation Centre
In the coming period, OpenIJ will also be working on the installation of the lock operating consoles in the Lock Operation Centre (SOC) (number 3 in the picture). The SOC is slanting forward at a 15-degree angle so that the lock operators will have an optimal view of the lock and the outer harbours. The lower floors of the SOC are reserved for spaces for installations and for management and maintenance.

Inner head
The lock gate chamber of the inner head (number 4 in the picture), which in the future will house the inner gate (i.e. the gate on the canal side) as well as the spare gate, was sunk to its final depth on 9 October 2019. The lock gate chamber of the inner head has now disappeared approximately 18 metres into the ground to a depth of 25.50 metres below NAP. Now that the sinking operation has been completed, the equipment used in this operation will be dismantled and removed from the construction site. The lock gate chamber of the inner head still contains several concrete partitions that were necessary to give stability to the concrete structure during the sinking operation. OpenIJ will remove these partitions in the coming period so that – at a later stage – the inner gate and the spare gate can be placed into the lock gate chamber.
Source: Port Of Amsterdam

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