Port of invests in top-notch infrastructure It is impossible Between now and 2025 the port of to stand beside Antwerp and the Flemish government ‘’the lock’s massive will be pumping more than 1.6 billion euros into infrastructure. “Large-scale 28m tall concrete projects such as the new lock for the walls without being Deurganck dock and the Liefkenshoek blown away by the rail tunnel will ensure optimal and scale of it. sustainable infrastructure to support further development of the port,” declares Mark Hansford Deputy editor Eddy Bruyninckx, CEO of Antwerp NEW CIVIL ENGINEERING Port Authority. “Continued investment in world-class port infrastructure is essential for a world player such as the .” Port of Antwerp invests in top-notch infrastructure

he port of Antwerp will pass to the new Deurganck cherishes its advantages dock lock, which will be even PANAMA CANAL T and underpins them with deeper than its state-of-the-art infrastructure. cousin. “The construction of AUTHORITY DRAWS The Port Authority currently has the Deurganck dock lock is civil INSPIRATION FROM quite a number of infrastructure engineering on a grand scale. It ANTWERP projects being carried out. In is impossible to stand beside the addition to the Deurganck dock lock’s massive, 28m tall concrete Antwerp Port Authority and the Panama lock and the Liefkenshoek rail walls without being blown away Canal Authority collaborate closely in tunnel there is maintenance work by the scale of it”, says Mark sharing information. The new locks for on bridges, renovation of docks, Hansford, deputy editor of New the Panama canal are based on the locks and port sites, develop- Civil Engineering. Offering a design for the Berendrecht lock in Ant- ment of a new port area and width of 68 metres, a length of werp, currently the largest in the world. investment in new buildings and 500 metres and a depth of 17.80 Panama recently also switched to tugs equipment. metres this sea lock will cater for for guiding ships through the canal, the expected increase in vessel’s which is common practice in Antwerp. size. Deurganck dock lock: the Furthermore the Panamanian pilots largest in the world, for the also received training in Antwerp. world's largest vessels Liefkenshoek tunnel: Both the Port Authority and the leading rail link Flemish government are investing As one of the leading rail ports in heavily to assure the accessibi- Europe, Antwerp is further con- lity of the port and its European centrating on this mode of NATURE HAND-IN-HAND hinterland. The future Deur- transport. Some 250 freight WITH PORT FACILITIES ganck dock lock, due to receive trains per day travel between its first vessels in 2016, is neces- Antwerp and the hinterland, Preservation of fauna and flora is a sary to ensure expansion of the and this number is expected to very important consideration in further port on the left bank of the river rise significantly once the new expansion of the port. Various “nature . “The decision to upgrade Liefkenshoek tunnel opens to rail compensation areas” have been crea- our container facilities is a matter traffic in 2014. This 16.2 km rail ted elsewhere within the port to make of long-term policy. The contai- tunnel will provide better connec- up for construction of the Deurganck ner volume expanded by 140% tions between the left and right dock. New areas have been provided in the two decades from 1990 to bank of the river, thus permitting on the left bank for wading birds, with 2010, and strong growth is also faster and more efficient trans- mudflats, brackish marshes, reed beds expected in the future. The new port. It will also improve the rail and freshwater ponds. Construction lock will make the left bank area service to the , France of the Deurganck dock in a European even more accessible to present and Germany. The tunnel will conservation area demonstrates once and future generations of ships,” further cater for port expansion more that economic interests can explains port alderman and Port on the left bank, and will contri- co-exist in harmony with ecological Authority chairman Marc Van bute substantially towards raising interests. Peel. The port of Antwerp already the proportion of rail transport in has the largest lock in the world, the modal split (rail/road/barge). the Berendrecht lock. The title

The Deurganck dock lock in figures

LENGTH OF 500M 20,000 TONNES OF STRUCTURAL STEEL 28 ARTICULATED BUSES END-TO-END NEARLY 3 TIMES THE QUANTITY OF STEEL USED TO BUILD THE EIFFEL TOWER

WIDTH OF 68 METRES 740,000 M³ OF REINFORCED CONCRETE A 19-LANE HIGHWAY A FOOTBALL FIELD PILED 89 METRES HIGH, OR NEARLY 30 STORIES

Contact Antwerp Port Authority Challenge us at [email protected] T +32 (0)3 205 20 11 E [email protected] Follow us at www.portofantwerp.com/everythingispossible Entrepotkaai 1, 2000 Antwerpen #eisp13 Responsible editor: Port of Antwerp #portofantwerp Images: © Port of Antwerp, Thomas Vanhautte November 2013 — 800401