The tunnel, which will become part of the new A24 motorway, is being built by the BAAK consortium comprising Ballast Nedam, Deme and Macquarie Capital. The client is Rijkswaterstaat, a directorate of the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and water management.
The tunnel element, measuring 185 metres long, 40 metres wide and seven metres deep, was floated into position from the working port to the site.
It was then immersing and connected to the land-side structure in a controlled operation that required the Scheur (one of the Netherlands’ busiest waterways) to be closed to river traffic for a period of time.
The Scheur is a tidal river, so the water moves with the ebb and flow of the tide. On the day of the operation (Friday, 31st March) the water was at neap tide which meant that the flow was minimal.
After immersing and connecting this tunnel section, leakage occurred and had to be repaired. The waterway was then reopened to maritime traffic.
The second tunnel section will be immersed on the next neap tide, which will be on Saturday, 15th April.
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