Rotterdam Seawall Nears Completion

The last block in the dam for a protective seawall at the Port of Rotterdam's Maasvlakte 2 has been laid.

The dam is made up of 19,558 concrete blocks, each weighing more than 44 tons. The blocks measured 2.5 meters in each direction. A crane was designed to move the heavy blocks, which was dubbed the Blockbuster. The blocks were moved from an existing seawall at Maasvlakte.

Work on the new seawall will continue for another month, PUMA said. PUMA, a consortium formed by Boskalis and Van Oord, is responsible for the construction of the US$1.3 billion Maasvlakte 2 project, including the seawall. Once the heavy armor stone has been laid, PUMA will hand over the completed wall to the Rotterdam Port Authority.

Photo shows Blockbuster at work on Maasvlakte 2. Courtesy of the Port of Rotterdam.