Now that the water level of the Markermeer is slowly dropping and it is finally possible to drain the Wadden Sea, the Grashaven and Visserseiland are being made ‘water-free’ today. From next week, the big bags, sewer valves and sandbags will be collected again by the municipality.
Now that it is starting to thaw, the ice on the Visserseiland in Hoorn is also gradually disappearing. In order to drain the melt water – and any rainwater – the sewer valves in the sewer and sandbags on the sewer drains will be removed.
After the weekend, the municipality, together with waste processing company HVC and logistics company Spaansen, will start removing the 200 big bags and 2,500 sandbags from Visserseiland. The power boxes and rubbish bins are also checked, as are the probably ‘drowned’ trees and emerging ones sinkholes.
The work could take several days, the municipality emphasizes. The street will remain closed to traffic for the time being and the parking ban will remain in effect until the work is completed. The municipality hopes to be able to open the street on Thursday, January 18. “We don’t know exactly what we will encounter. Water sometimes causes damage that you cannot immediately see. So it may take even longer,” said a spokesperson.
Sand is reused
The large amount of sand from the big bags is reused for housing projects in the municipality, says a spokesperson. The small white and black sandbags are ‘donated’ by the water board to the municipality and are stored in a warehouse.
“Residents can store the white sandbags themselves if they wish. If they still have black sandbags in the garage or basement, we ask that they be placed in a central location next to the above-ground containers by Monday at the latest. Then we can store the bags. clean up quickly as a municipality.”