The Province of Noord-Holland has granted Heijmans final contract award for the design, realization and maintenance of the 'Renovation of the Wilhelmina Lock Zaandam' Project. The project involves the renovation of the 110 year old Wilhelmina lock in the city center of Zaandam. The contract value amounts to approximately 30 million.
The contract was awarded on the basis of a Design & Construct contract that also included the Economically Most Advantageous Tender (EMAT) aspects. The distinctive design and a well-thought out approach to the construction resulted in a winning proposal for Heijmans. The proposal was prepared with the aid of the Building Information Model (BIM) in which all of the data available for the design and construction were included in 3D and will be shared with the partners involved in the project.
The renovated Wilhelmina lock will accommodate mixed traffic and will be suitable for shipping traffic up to and including Class CEMT Va. The passage width will be increased from 12 to 14 meters, the threshold depth and length of the chamber will be increased and the bridges will be renovated. Due to its greater dimensions, the new lock will no longer form an obstacle to entering the Zaan river as a result of which the Zaan's transport capacity will increase and the flow of the shipping traffic will improve.
Work planning will commence in 2013, after which construction will start. The construction work will peak in 2014. Plans call for the completed work to be commissioned no later than May 2015. Any inconvenience to the current Wilhelmina lock, including the current bridges will be kept to a minimum during the construction work. The project has been registered with 'Bewuste Bouwers' ('Concerned Builders'), a code of conduct for building sites that safeguards professional environmental management practices.
The renovation of the Wilhelmina lock forms part of the 'Vaart in de Zaan' ('Navigation on the Zaan') program, whose objective is to make the Zaan accessible to the inland shipping vessels of the future. In addition, the program aims to improve the region's quality of life by reducing road transport and environmental impact.
Source: Heijmans
