Waterways
Locks, canals, movable bridges and inland shipping as a link in the logistics chain.
- Knowledge Base
Six lessons for the urban replacement task as Rotterdam tackles 55 bridges and locks
Rotterdam is bringing the first six of 55 movable bridges and locks to market this year. Municipalities carry more than half of the national replacement costs, but have neither a national investment programme nor a route decision procedure. Six lessons for stakeholder and environmental management in the city.
Read more → - Policy
Compensation belongs in your stakeholder plan, not in the aftermath
The Twente canals were closed to freight shipping for over a month, direct damage ran towards a million euros a day according to Twente Board, and the government announced that low water levels fall within normal business risk. That position is defensible. The moment at which it was communicated is not.
Read more → - Projects
Pumps at the West Lock: drought turns the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal into a distribution problem
On 18 August, Rijkswaterstaat installed pumps at the West Lock in Terneuzen that can push saline Westerschelde water into the canal to protect its banks. A report on a waterway where water level, salinity, shipping and industry collide, across a national border.
Read more → - Knowledge Base
Eight weeks shut: managing stakeholders during a full movable-bridge closure
The Twee Zwanenbrug near Schagerbrug closed fully for eight weeks this month, after barely eleven years of service. Such a closure is technically manageable, but stands or falls on the surrounding community. A practical guide for stakeholder managers.
Read more → - Projects
Lock 16 Weert: Renewing a National Monument as a Stakeholder Challenge
Rijkswaterstaat has applied to the municipality of Weert for a permit to overhaul the monumental Lock 16. When a national monument is part of the renewal programme, a heritage layer is added on top of the usual replacement-and-renovation complexity.
Read more → - Projects
250,000 vehicles, 120,000 vessels, five years of work: the renewal of the Van Brienenoord Bridge
In early June, Rijkswaterstaat awarded the first major contract for renewing the Van Brienenoord Bridge. From 2027, five years of work begin on one of Europe's busiest connections, over both road and water. That makes this not just a construction challenge, but a stakeholder management challenge of the first order.
Read more → - Analysis
Koninginnensluis: seven lessons from a three-times-delayed renovation
On 9 June 2026, Rijkswaterstaat announced that the reopening of the Koninginnensluis in Nieuwegein is being delayed for the third time. The cause: as-built drawings of the lock gate pivot points did not match the actual underwater situation. Seven lessons that every renewal and replacement project manager can use.
Read more → - Analysis
Two faces of the waterway challenge: planned renewal versus reactive failure management
In the same week that Rijkswaterstaat lifted the northern dock door of the Maeslantkering for major maintenance, waterway users submitted a petition about postponed repairs to the Buitenhuizerbrug and Algerabrug. Both events show how the same renewal challenge produces two fundamentally different realities, and what that means for stakeholder and environmental management.
Read more → - Analysis
A cable tunnel beneath the Western Scheldt: technical feasibility, cross-sections and landing options
The energy transition in Zeeland requires a new 380 kV connection beneath the Western Scheldt. This article explores the technical feasibility of a cable tunnel, cross-section options and landing possibilities.
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