Ijmuiden is a sea lock situated in the municipality of Velsen, Netherlands. This new, larger sea lock replaces the Noordersluis, which has been in operation since 1929 and allows ships to pass through the IJmuiden lock complex smoothly and safely, regardless of the tides.
Construction started in July 2016 and was completed in August 2021. This was followed by a period of testing by all parties who will be working with the sea lock, such as the operators, pilots, tugboats and flippers. Exercises were also held with the emergency services.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands officially opened the IJmuiden sea lock on Wednesday afternoon, 26 January 2022. The opening marks the commissioning of the largest sea lock in the world. The lock will be taken into use in mid-2022.
The Zeesluis (sea lock) IJmuiden is 500 metres long, 70 meters wide and 18 meters deep. The structure is also deep enough that ships will no longer have to wait for a favorable water level to enter the canal.
The consortium was supported by Van Oord and Boskalis for all the dredging and groundwork operations. After opening of the IJmuiden lock, the two companies will also be responsible for keeping the canals at the designed depth for a period of 26 years.
According to euronews; offshore-energy
