Houseboats slanting
On Wednesday January 11th 2017 the Ministry of Water Management contacted Van Heck asking for assistance at the Heijen Harbour as a result of damage to the weir on the river Maas in Grave.
The damage to the weir in Grave meant that the water in the Heijen Harbour stood 2,5 meter below the normal level. This caused a number of houseboats to come into a slanting position. To relieve this situation, the harbour was blocked and the Ministry asked Van Heck to supply pumping capacity to temporarily increase the water level.
Pumping and siphoning
Thursday January 12th the first trucks with equipment left Noordwolde heading for Gennep. Friday all the equipment was on site (a total of 8 trucks) and the same day the entire pumping system was operational.
Van Heck supplied 4 diesel driven pumps, 3 HK700’s and 1 HK500, with a pontoon to reach the necessary capacity of 25.000 m³/hour. After 2 days, faster than expected, the water level had reached the desired level. After the houseboats had been pulled to a deeper part of the harbour the water level could be reduced to the previous level, the level of the river Maas. To accomplish this, Van Heck supplied a siphon system on Sunday January 15th. This was the most practical and environmentally friendly solution. The siphon system will take about 2 days to restore the water level to its previous level.
