The installation of the bridges and lock doors for the Sassevaart lock in Terneuzen has been completed. This was done by HEBO Maritime Services and Mammoet.

Between 25 and 26 January 2023, the bridge was sailed into the lock chamber and carefully placed above the bridge cellar. The Nieuwe Sluis will provide better access and smoother flow from the Western Scheldt to the Canal from Ghent to Terneuzen and beyond.

The first bridge was loaded onto the pontoon at Mammoet’s storage location in Westdorpe, using Self Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT). The installed bridge is 86 metres long, 17 metres wide and 15 metres high. The total weight of a bridge structure is 1251 tons. With the 289.1 ton counterweight, it weighs 1539.9 tons. A HEBO Maritime Services tug, the Catharina 10, was used to move the Bokabarge 6, a deck cargo pontoon. The pontoon was built in 2008 and has a gross tonnage of 2,922 tons. Her length overall is 84 metres and her width is 23.5 metres.

The video of the bridge installation can be watched here:

The Project

This installation marks the completion of the third step in the construction of the lock. The next phase of the project has now begun. The Nieuwe Sluis will be the same size as the locks in the Panama Canal, namely 427 metres long, 55 metres wide and 16.44 metres deep. The lock is expected to be suitable for large seagoing vessels up to 366 metres long, 49 metres wide and 15 metres deep. The first ship is expected to sail through the Nieuwe Sluis this year.

The Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission is the client and the contractor combination Sassevaart is building the Nieuwe Sluis. In total, the construction of the Nieuwe Sluis, including quays and finishing, will require 330,000 cubic metres of concrete, 32,000 tons of reinforcing steel, and 60,000 tons of steel for the tubular piles, sheet piles, doors and bridges. Additionally, 9.5 million cubic metres of soil will also be dredged.

The construction of the lock, including preparation costs and supervision, as well as the infrastructural management and maintenance of the first two years, is expected to cost 934 million euros (including VAT). In accordance with the treaty between the Netherlands and Flanders for the construction of the New Lock Terneuzen, the Netherlands will pay over 190 million euros. Flanders bears the remaining costs, with the North Sea Port contributing to the Flemish share of the costs. Another 48 million euros will be contributed from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funds.