World’s biggest lock gets go-ahead
The Port of Antwerp is set to build the world’s biggest lock, after an agreement was reached last week to finance the project. The lock will link the existing Deurganck dock with the other docks on the left bank of the Scheldt, which at present have only one nautical link with the rest of the port area.
Afdeling AMSThe budget for the project is €340 million, of which just under half will be paid by the European Investment Bank. KBC will extend a credit line of €81 million, while the Port of Antwerp and the Flemish government make up the rest.
According to Flemish minister for public works, Hilde Crevits, “the construction of the Deurganckdok lock is important for the maritime future of the Antwerp port area. Access to our ports is crucial for Flanders.” The ports, says Crevits, are the most important driving forces of the region’s economy, and within that the locks play a critical role. “The further extension of the port infrastructure and the improvement of access are essential to our being able to admit large ships without delay.”
The figures for the construction are impressive: The new dock will be built on the model of the existing Berendrecht dock, which is currently the largest in the world. It will be 500 metres long and 68 metres wide. That’s as long as the Meir shopping street in Antwerp’s city centre, or the equivalent of 28 De Lijn buses parked nose to tail. The width will be equivalent to a 19-lane motorway.
Those dimensions are the same as the Berendrecht dock, but the new dock is deeper: 17.8 metres compared to 13.58 metres. The concrete required for the new dock is enough to build a 35-storey building with a footprint the size of a football pitch, and the steel needed is enough for three Eiffel towers.
Construction is planned to take about four-and-a-half years, with the new dock becoming operational in 2016.
“With this new investment, we provide an answer not only to the growth of ship traffic on the left bank of the Scheldt but also to the increases in scale,” Crevits commented. “A second lock will ensure more business security in the second most important port in Europe and allow it to defend its competitive position.
