SPIE participates in the new management of the Lemmer-Delfzijl main waterway

Breda, May 30th, 2018 – SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is contributing to the safer, more sustainable and smarter management and maintenance of the main waterway between Lemmer and Delfzijl as subcontractor to Van den Herik Kust- en Oeverwerken B.V. 34 movable objects such as moving bridges and sluices will be investigated on this 118 kilometre long route. SPIE is responsible for the renovation and conservation work.

Commissioning party and network manager, Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, prioritizes the experience of its networks’ users and focuses on the preservation of the environment; therefore, it requires all its chain partners to have and keep the networks and movable objects reliable, safe and available. This calls for workmanship and trust. Both Van den Herik and SPIE have gained that trust and already proved their workmanship, also as collaborating parties.

Danny Boer, Business Development Manager at SPIE Nederland, emphasises the vision shared with Rijkswaterstaat: "As a chain partner, we prefer to be involved in the market approach at an early stage, prior to a project like this. This way, we can jointly determine which collaboration fits best. Safety and availability are important aspects, but we’re also a partner in thinking in terms of innovations and sustainable, technical solutions for energy and cost savings."

The Lemmer-Delfzijl main waterway consists of 3 canals: the Prinses Margriet Canal, the Van Starkenborg Canal and the Eems Canal. The waterway makes the provinces of Groningen and Friesland accessible to commercial and recreational shipping. In addition, it connects Northern Germany with the important ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam.