In September we started the test suspension of the auxiliary structure for the grit-blasting and preservation of 32 sluice valves. The auxiliary structure was mounted above the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. This was the only way in which it was possible to renovate the 32 sluice valves and to perform a major overhaul. The existing coating system was completely removed and an entirely new system will be applied. The full contract continues until 2035.

The design of the auxiliary structure is a high-profile innovation, developed by the OSK conserveringsgroep BV. A joint venture between GSB Ochten and Van der Ende Infra Barendrecht. The appended presentation by Peter van der Mark – project leader of RWS – gives you a fantastically realistic insight into the complexity of the design. Also shown in the presentation are the arduous circumstances in which work had to take place. For example, the power of the sea that battered incessantly against the auxiliary structure.

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