Dutch Ministry Of Infrastructure And The Environment News

Rijkswaterstaat (part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and responsible for the design, construction, management and maintenance of the main infrastructure facilities in the Netherlands) has awarded the Afsluitdijk project to the Levvel consortium. This joint venture is formed by Van Oord Aberdeen Infrastructure Partners B.V. (46%), BAM PPP PGGM Infrastructure Coöperatie U.A. (46%) and RebelValley B.V. (8%). Levvel will be responsible for design, build, finance and 25 years maintenance of the strengthened Afsluitdijk. Construction works are expected to start in the autumn of 2018. In 2023, works on the Afsluitdijk will be completed. The net present value of the project is approximately EUR 550 million.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) was last night named winner of the SponsorRing 2016 award in the 'Society' category for its sponsorship of The Ocean Cleanup's North Sea prototype test. A floating barrier designed to capture plastic from the sea is being tested approximately 23 km off the Dutch coast. The purpose of the test is to see how well the floating barrier design is able to cope with extreme weather conditions at sea. The SponsorRing is the annual award for the best sponsorship cases in the Netherlands. The jury commented: "An extremely brilliant case and an outstanding fit. The preconditions for a future societal impact have been met and the internal sponsorship activation was strong.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has emerged as the best submitter of the tender to reinforce over 33 kilometers of dike around the Markermeer lake between the towns of Hoorn and Durgerdam, the Netherlands. This was announced by the Hollands Noorderkwartier district water board (HHNK). The project will be structured according to an alliance contract form under which HHNK and Boskalis with its partners will work together to design and construct the reinforcements to ensure the safety of the Markermeer dikes for the next 50 years. In the coming months Boskalis and its partners will collaborate with HHNK on a follow-up study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. The actual contract award is expected mid-December.

Good connections between seaports and the hinterland are vital for optimizing the logistic chain. The Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Bayernhafen Gruppe are therefore working together in the ‘Bayrolo’ research program. The aim of this cross-border project is to further improve intermodal container transport between Bavaria and the port of Rotterdam. By taking containers off the road and shipping them by barge and rail, cargo flows will be able to continue growing and the port of Rotterdam will be able to offer the German inland ports an alternative seaport.

New public policy priorities, government support and legislation for navigation on inland waterways in Russia, as well as fleet modernisation and waterways infrastructure will be discussed during the conference ‘Russian-Dutch Bilateral Year 2013: the Strategy of Water Transport’. Key speaker during the conference will be Viktor Olersky, deputy Minister of Transport. The conference takes place on September 24, 2013 in pavilion 7 of the Lenexpo in St. Petersburg. The conference will be co-chaired by Mr. Olersky and Siebe Riedstra, Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. Speakers include Mr Konstantin Palnikov (Director of Department of State Policy of Maritime and river transport…

Wärtsilä and CEVA Logistics were recognized for their successful efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% at Wärtsilä's warehousing operations. The two companies have been named as winners of the Lean & Green Star Award 2013, a program aimed at encouraging businesses and government bodies to move to a higher level of sustainability by taking measures that not only yield cost savings, but at the same time reduce the burden on the environment. The achievement has been made possible thanks to the combined efforts of CEVA and Wärtsilä.