Netherlands: A lock over 500 meters

The world’s largest sea lock will open today in the Netherlands, connecting the North Sea with the port of Amsterdam. But the construction costs were record-breaking – and the farmers are worried.

It is already an eye-catcher and attracts many onlookers every day: the new “Zeesluis” from Ijmuiden – the lock that connects the port of Amsterdam with the North Sea. Visitors marvel at how “incredibly large” it is and rave about its beauty.

Low water is no longer a problem

The gigantic structure in the North Sea Canal is 500 meters long, 70 meters wide and 18 meters deep. This means that large freighters can pass through the canal even at low tide. Work on the XXL project began in 2016, and actually the lock should have been completed three years later.

Nothing came of it. With a delay of more than two years and additional costs of around 200 million euros, the building can only now be handed over to its destination.

For Jan Rienstra from the water and road authority Rijkswaterstaat, this is no reason for criticism. At the beginning you can “only estimate the costs very roughly”. Only later do you “enter into dialogue with the market” – and then the details would become clear. Of course, the authorities “would have preferred it to have worked”, but you also have to be professional and realistic: “If the price doesn’t work, the budget has to be increased.”

Do farmers and tulip growers have to suffer?

There is criticism from other quarters. The fruit and vegetable growers and especially the many tulip growers in the region are worried about their land, because salt water flows into the North Sea Canal with every lock operation, says Jaap Bond, spokesman for the flower farms. And if the entire harvest fails and you can’t bring in the next harvest because the soil is salty – “then you have a problem as a breeder”.

Rijkswaterstaat promises a remedy. The authority is building a system in the canal that pumps the salt water back into the North Sea. However, this construction project will not be completed until the end of 2024. Until then, the new lock can only be used to a limited extent. Technically, according to Rienstra, it is fully functional. Since the summer, people have become familiar with the system, tested and tried out a lot and even let large ships in – “to see how they behave in the lock”.

Modest Ceremony

King Willem Alexander will open the “Zeesluis Ijmuiden” in the afternoon – because of Corona in a small circle and without a big ceremony. Coby Springers is happy that construction is finally complete. She lives right next to the lock and has endured a lot of noise over the past six years.

Now, she rejoices, peace is finally returning. And yet it is nice to have witnessed the construction of the “Zeesluis” and now to live at the largest lock in the world.