Transport & TravelBusiness & Finance
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Inland waterway transport has long sought an expansion of the Volkeraksluizen, but Minister Karremans has opted for maintenance instead. Koninklijke Binnenvaart Nederland says that long waiting times for ships at the locks cause millions of euros in economic damage each year and that the lock complex needs to be expanded.
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The cabinet allocated €18 billion for maintenance and renewal of roads, bridges, railways and waterworks, with safety and overdue maintenance taking priority. Infrastructure Minister Vincent Karremans said this requires postponing or ending a range of expansion projects, while projects including the Nedersaksenlijn, the N35 and N50, and replacement of the IJmuiden discharge and pumping complex will continue. Funding was withdrawn or deferred for, among other schemes, expansion of the Rotterdam-The Hague metro network and RandstadRail, widening of the A27 between Almere and Eemnes, and several road and water projects. Karremans said postponed projects remain necessary and will be resumed later. A single report said the ministry also plans to reduce safety requirements and to make municipalities pay for additional requirements they impose on projects.
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The cabinet allocated €18 billion to maintenance and renewal of roads, bridges, locks, railways and waterworks, while postponing or halting numerous planned infrastructure projects to help fund the programme. The plan includes €2.3 billion to renew the outdated sluice and pumping complex at IJmuiden, work on the Haringvliet Bridge, rail improvements including HSL viaducts between Leiden and Hoofddorp, and funding for the Nedersaksenlijn and rail bottlenecks at Meppel. It also set aside €355 million to improve access to housing developments in Alkmaar, Apeldoorn, Helmond and Hengelo/Enschede, and €2.4 billion to address shortfalls in ongoing projects, including €400 million for Zuidasdok. Projects affected include part of Zuidasdok, capacity expansion for RandstadRail and the Rotterdam metro, widening of the A27, improvements to the A28, N33 and Utrecht ring road, and relocation of the ferry port on Ameland. The Kornwerderzand lock widening will not proceed, although its bridges are still to be replaced. Municipal, provincial, business and construction-sector groups said the plan was a necessary first step but that more structural funding is needed. Parliamentary approval is still required.
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The cabinet withdrew funding for several planned infrastructure projects in Fryslân, including replacement of the HRMK railway bridge near Leeuwarden, widening the Kornwerderzand lock complex in the Afsluitdijk, and a faster ferry route to Ameland. The state contribution for improving Ameland’s accessibility was reduced to zero; maintenance of bridges on the Lemmer-Delfzijl waterway continues.
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Follow the Money reported that 16 Dutch bridges and viaducts contain prestressing steel that may be susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement, which can cause steel wires embedded in concrete to fail. The number rose from 13 after Rijkswaterstaat identified three additional structures. A single report said that recommended inspections, material checks, recalculations and monitoring had not been fully carried out; Rijkswaterstaat said it had implemented or was implementing many measures and that the structures are monitored. Infrastructure Minister Vincent Karremans acknowledged that not all recommendations had yet been implemented, citing the time needed for the work and new findings. He said available information provides no indication of an acute safety risk, though damage in sections that have not been examined cannot be fully excluded. Rijkswaterstaat is continuing investigations and monitoring, including laboratory testing and further samples from the West Viaduct over the A9 at Uitgeest; initial tests there found no indication that the viaduct is unstable.