Deurganckdoksluis, Antwerp

Our clients DEME and Jan de Nul, who are working together in a joint venture called ‘Combinatie Kallo’ to build the Largest lock in the world, the new Deurganckdoksluis in Antwerp, asked Van Heck to help develop a system fill the 1.6 million m3 lock within 5 days.

Energy efficient system

Our engineers quickly realised that a siphon system would be an ideal solution, using the natural height difference to transport the water through two 350 meter long Ø900 mm pipes. The Siphon system, which uses vacuum (and not pumps) uses very little energy, the whole system is powered by a 25 KwA generator. Our calculations showed that we could deliver 7.500 m3/hour, per pipe (15.000 m3/h in total) through the Siphon! And that for as little as 1 litre diesel per hour!

Symbolic start up

On Kingsday (27th of April) our engineers started the siphon in front of a large gathering of representatives from local government and higher management from the two dredging giants. With the symbolic ‘push of a button’ we opened the valves and the waterfall began.

After filling, the dike which has separated the new lock from the harbour will be dug away and work will continue in the flooded lock. The next milestone is the fitting of the giant lock doors. Completion of the dock is scheduled for 2016.

Once again Van Heck is proud to have taken part in what is one of the world’s largest projects!

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