“The route starts from the Bouwdok to the Voorhaven of Zeebrugge,” says client Lantis. “Four tugboats and one push boat will be the tunnel part – 160 meters long, 42 meters wide and with a weight of 60,000 tons – Transport via the North Sea and the Scheldt to the goal dock in the port of Antwerp. In total this happens eight times this year. “
“The boats drag the tunnel part from the Bouwdok and maneuvering it towards the connecting bridge. Then they go via the Vandammesluis to the first waiting location in the Voorhaven of Zeebrugge. Via the North Sea and the Scheldt, the journey continues to a second waiting location in Terneuzen. On the waiting locations, the spinning part awaits.
The last part of the journey follows the winding sailing route from the Scheldt to the Doeldok, the temporary parking space of the tunnel parts. In the goal dock the tunnel parts wait at the right time to be sunk at their final place in the Scheldt. The Scheldt is a lively river with a lot of current. Sinking is therefore best done with death tide, a time window in which the difference between ebb and flood is the smallest. That time window only occurs twice a month, around the first and last fifteen minutes of the moon, “said Lantis.