Deputy Matthijs de Vries: “The province and Van Oord have worked intensively together in recent years, from design to execution, with this contour as a beautiful result. The last and largest step lies ahead of us: the construction of the winding river in the IJsselmeer. I look forward to the completion of this unique project.”
Ronald de Geus, Director Dredging & Infra at Van Oord: “Successfully completing our contribution to this project is an important milestone for Van Oord. In close collaboration with the province of Fryslân and many other involved parties, we have worked for years on a sustainable realization of the Fish Migration River. This project demonstrates how innovative hydraulic engineering and ecological restoration can strengthen each other, and truly puts the Netherlands on the map. We are proud of the joint efforts and our contribution to this special initiative.”
Protection and Connection
Since the start of the construction of the Fish Migration River in 2020, Van Oord has been involved in multiple areas. The newest dam in the IJsselmeer surrounds the future river and protects it against wind, waves, and currents. Earlier, Van Oord built the river mouth on the Wadden Sea side – the place where fish swim into the river – a nature island, and the western flank in the IJsselmeer. Additionally, Van Oord, as part of the construction combination Levvel (consisting of BAM Infra, Van Oord, Rebel, and Invesis), contributed to the strengthening of the Afsluitdijk on behalf of Rijkswaterstaat. Within that project, Levvel built the passage in the Afsluitdijk. This passage forms the connection for fish between the Wadden Sea and the river in the IJsselmeer.
Circular Collaboration
During the construction, the province of Fryslân made as much use of materials from the immediate area as possible. With cutter suction dredger Biesbosch, a special dredging vessel from Van Oord, 400,000 cubic meters of sand was extracted from the bottom of the IJsselmeer. This meant that no materials had to be brought in. This prevented about 400 shipping movements or 18,500 truck trips. Additionally, 20,000 tons of rubble stone were reused from the reinforcement of the Afsluitdijk. The use of locally sourced materials also contributes to the success of fish migration: sand and stones with the same smell and taste help fish with their orientation.
It is expected that the first fish will swim through the Fish Migration River in early 2027.
These drone images are available in high resolution. If you would like to receive them, please send an email to pers@fryslan.frl
