Nauta Heeg builds and transports huge dock gate to exclusive shipbuilder De Vries
Shipbuilder De Vries Scheepsbouw already has a beautiful dock hall in Makkum, Friesland. For their new dock hall, Nauta Heeg manufactured an important part: the bottom part of the dock gate. On Wednesday 28 August 2019, the heavy, steel gate door of the new dock hall was installed: from now on it will keep the water of the IJsselmeer out and the dock dry.
How big is the dock gate?
The dock gate is 23.4 meters wide, 8.4 meters high and 1.77 meters thick and it weighs 140 tons. It was put together in our steel factory in 21 weeks: plate by plate, partition by partition. In addition, the door, or gate, contains floating elements and is delivered well insulated. It has become a stable, balanced dock gate – albeit gigantic in size.
The dock gate is 6 meters under water. At the bottom, it must be strongest and able to float in order to move weightlessly. The dock gate is therefore divided into hollow compartments from the inside by means of floating boxes. As a result the gate is 30% lighter in water. At the bottom, the steel partitions are thicker and the compartments smaller, and thus the gate is very sturdy. In addition, 20 tons of extra ballast has been added to the bottom for extra stability when the gate is moving. The water pressure ensures that the gate stays in place. For extra safety, the gate is anchored in the foundation and in the side wall.
Construction partners
It was a pleasure working together again with our construction partners; main contractor Jorritsma Bouw, Ingenieursbureau Boorsma, and De Boer & De Groot.
The film below shows how very special this project is –
