Blue Passage

Commissioned by the Municipality of Oldambt, De Romein Group constructed The Blue Passage. The Blue Passage is the new segment of the northern navigation route: the connection of Oldambtmeer and Blauwestad to the Termunterzijldiep, the Dollard, and the Ems in Germany.

OUR EXPERTISE

GPS

The Blue Passage is a 2.8-kilometer-long canal. Thanks to De Romein Group's expertise in working with GPS systems, this project was completed six months ahead of schedule. The project is situated in a river valley area, which revealed various types of soil. We were able to accurately log the quantities with the Topcon GPS system on our excavators.

Read the article in the Dagblad van het Noorden.

FOUNDATION STRUCTURE

In the vicinity of the project, we demolished several old farms and structures. The resulting debris was reused within the project. The existing asphalt road was ground up, and we also reused the material that came from this process. We crushed the debris and reclaimed asphalt on-site to the correct grading. Using our mixing machine, we produced Asphalt Granulate Cement Stabilization (AGRAC) from this material. We applied this AGRAC as a foundation under the asphalt paving. A further benefit was that we prevented numerous transportation movements through the built-up area of Midwolda.

FEATURES

• Installation of 3 concrete traffic bridges with partial steel support
• Installation of a foundation with concrete piles
• Creation of work drawings and detailed calculations
• Excavation of 256,000 cubic meters of soil for 2.8 km of canal, waterways, and retention basins
• Transporting and processing this soil into embankments, roads, verges, and agricultural land
• Installation of 5.6 km of bank protection, including sheet pile walls with riprap
• Installation of 7 mooring facilities with anchored concrete, steel, and wooden sheet piling and revetment
• Installation of mooring posts
• Removal and installation of culverts
• Removal of existing pavements
• Felling of 800 trees
• Production and processing of 17,000 tons of AGRAC foundation
• Application of 7,200 tons of asphalt mixtures on a road alignment of 3.5 km
• Installation of 5.5 km of concrete edge strips
• Construction of 2,900 m² of concrete agricultural road
• Implementation of markings and road signs

SUSTAINABILITY

De Romein Group completed this project using as many sustainable techniques as possible. We utilized FSC-certified wood for the hydraulic engineering structures and recycled debris and asphalt (AGRAC) for the foundation structures. Through this approach to circular construction, we reduced CO2 emissions and minimized the number of transport movements through Midwolda. Technological innovations such as GPS maximized efficiency.