Port of Antwerp to construct new lock

The Port Authority of Antwerp has announced it is to construct a second lock on the Left Bank of the Port of Antwerp. The lock, set to be one of the world’s largest, is due to open in 2016 and will cost around €340m of which 50% will be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB). For EIB President Philippe Maystadt, the new lock will "help to further develop efficient, multimodal and sustainable goods transport, which will benefit not only the Port of Antwerp and Flanders but also Europe."

In recent years the development of the Port of Antwerp has been concentrated on the Left Bank. With a number of important projects planned, such as the lengthening of the Verrebroek dock and the development of the Saeftinghe zone, a second point of access to the sea is essential. "The second lock is key to the further expansion of our port on the Left Bank of the Scheldt", said Alderman for the Port Marc Van Peel. "With a second lock and the deepening of the Scheldt completed last year, the Antwerp Port Authority is responding in an appropriate manner to the increase in the scale of shipping traffic and we are maintaining our position as the number two in Europe."

The cost of the lock and ancillary facilities is estimated at around €340m. The European Investment Bank, for which this project is an integral part of the Trans-European transport network and the development of sustainable modes of transport, was prepared to finance 50% of the total construction cost, by providing a maximum of €170m. KBC Bank is also making available a €81m credit line, with the balance being provided by the Antwerp Port Authority and the Flemish Government.

The new lock will be at the end of the Deurganck dock and will provide the link to the sea between the Scheldt and the Waasland Canal. The lock will give shipping access to all other docks on the Left Bank: the Doel dock, the Verrebroek dock, the Vrasene dock and the North and South Insteek dock. Sint-Antoniusweg is currently located on the site where the lock will be built, as is a dyke, which will disappear when the lock is built. Sint-Antoniusweg will continue – via the planned bridges to the lock – to be a connecting road.

The design of the new lock will be based on that of the Berendrecht lock and as such it will be 500 m long and 68 m wide.

Quelle: eyefortransport
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