‘Here the dike was closed’, is written in graceful capitals on a memorial stone halfway the Afsluitdijk. ‘May 28, 1932’ is written below. This is where the last hole in the Afsluitdijk was closed – exactly ninety years ago on Saturday.
That ninetieth birthday had been a good moment to complete the renovation of the Afsluitdijk. Since 2018, the occasional combination of construction group BAM, dredging company Van Oord and consultancy Rebel has been building the dike on behalf of Rijkswaterstaat.
But the builders and the Empire did not make it to the anniversary. The reinforcement and renewal of the 32 kilometer long dike between Noord-Holland and Friesland, which started in 2018, may now be completed by the end of 2025. Or maybe even later.
When the Afsluitdijk is ready depends on the new tender for the so-called sluices. The two lock complexes on both sides of the dike, at Den Oever and Kornwerderzand, form a million-dollar headache file. For Rijkswaterstaat, and for the construction consortium.
The discharge sluices are an important part of the dike. Among other things, they have to drain the water from the IJsselmeer to the Wadden Sea. The initial design of the renovation did not take into account a number of extreme weather conditions. When Rijkswaterstaat wanted to include this in the renovation, it turned out that there was so much extra work that the builders demanded compensation.
Also read this article: The renovation of the Afsluitdijk is considerably delayed due to problems with discharge sluices
Hikers and cyclists
On Friday evening, Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management, VVD) announced that Rijkswaterstaat had arranged for 238 million euros with the construction combination. It has also been agreed to remove the work on the discharge sluices from the contract with the three companies. This work is now being re-tendered and will be completed later than planned.
Well, says Harbers, more attention will be paid to walking and cycling along the dike. To the frustration of many cycling clubs, the Afsluitdijk was closed to bicycle traffic during the renovation.
The delay at the discharge locks is due to the fact that additional design work was required to ensure that the renovated locks could also withstand the combination of relatively low water and high waves from the IJsselmeer. To this end, the ‘hydraulic preconditions’ of the project had to be adjusted. The designers needed more water levels, more wave heights and more technical data to calculate their work.
Work on the discharge sluices will be tendered again and completed later
The renewed Afsluitdijk must be able to withstand an extreme storm that would occur once every ten thousand years. For example, the dike should help to better protect the Netherlands against the consequences of climate change and sea level rise.
Rijkswaterstaat already knew from the start of the project that the ‘design principles’ were incomplete, Harbers writes in the letter to parliament. According to the minister, the reinforcement and renewal of the Afsluitdijk will now cost more than 2 billion euros. How much more depends on the new tender for the discharge sluices. The counter has so far stood at more than 1.7 billion euros.
The settlement applies to only part of the disputes between Rijkswaterstaat and the construction consortium. In 2023, a committee will look into the ongoing disagreements between the two parties. It has been agreed that a maximum of 87 million in compensation will be provided.
Harbers also writes that Rijkswaterstaat and its ministry have learned from the mistakes in the Afsluitdijk project. The working method that Rijkswaterstaat uses for tenders has therefore been adjusted.
Substantial expense, often arguing
Until a few years ago, large construction projects were put out to tender according to so-called DBFM contracts (Design, Build, Finance, Maintain† With this contract form, the construction consortia are responsible for all aspects of large infrastructure projects. From design to construction, maintenance and financing: everything was taken care of in one integrated order.
Because the entire process is carried out by one consortium, costs can be kept low – that was the idea. Practice proved otherwise. Construction companies, whose margins have been under pressure for some time, ran too great a risk if something went wrong in the construction process. A changed design, delays due to non-granted permits or new requirements from the client (often the government) meant a significant cost item – and often also quarrels between construction companies and Rijkswaterstaat.
After protracted conflicts about cost overruns at the Zuidasdok, the IJmuiden Sea Lock and the Afsluitdijk, Minister Harbers no longer wants to work with DBFM contracts. Instead, experiments are now underway with ‘staged’ tenders, which means that the preparation and execution of the works is split up and put out to tender separately. In his letter to the cabinet, Harbers wrote on Friday that the tender for the new discharge sluices will also be tendered in stages.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of May 24, 2022
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