Room for the River - Veessen-Wapenveld

4 May 2016

The IJsselweide construction combination, a combination of Boskalis Netherlands and Van Hattum and Blankevoort, implements the Veessen-Wapenveld High-water Channel project.

Coordination of the completion of the High-water Channel Veessen-Wapenveld

As part of the national Room for the River program, a high-water channel will be realized between Veessen and Wapenveld. By means of this high-water channel, a water level drop of 71 centimeters on the IJssel is realized at Veessen. This fall in water level protects the inhabitants of the IJsseldelta up to Deventer. The channel, which is formed by the construction of two dikes, can be taken into use by means of an inlet work at extremely high water levels.

The land in the gully area remains mainly used for agriculture. In addition, a landscape zone is set up where flora and fauna are given a place. At various locations in the area, provisions are made for nature conservation and recreation. The total project area covers an area of approximately 780 hectares and has a length of 9 kilometers. By constructing two new connecting bridges of 117 and 297 meters respectively, the area located between the IJssel and the Hoogwatergeul can be evacuated when the trench is put into use.

At the beginning of 2016, Gedin was asked to implement a number of roles within the project within the umbrella organization of the IJsselweide Bouwcombinatie, a combination of Van Hattum and Blankevoort and Boskalis Nederland. Initially, Risk Management and Traffic Management were implemented and soon the coordination of the completion of the Work was added. Meanwhile, the focus of our efforts on this last point lies in coordinating the delivery of the Work.

As the most important first step, an intensive collaboration with regard to delivery was organized between contractor, client and future managers. These parties are all stakeholders in the completion and delivery of the work. Creating support for a joint process approach is an important condition for an efficient and effective process of delivery. For optimal results and efficiency, it is important to start the process of delivery as early as possible in the project.

As a second step, a reassessment took place of the requirements and wishes of the stakeholders with regard to the delivery documentation. These do not always correspond with the contractual assumptions. The joint objectives with regard to completion have also been established between the client and the contractor, and these contribute to the commitment to the delivery process.

Now that it has been clearly established what the stakeholders expect / need for the delivery of the Work, it is time for the third step. You can now start planning the delivery work. This includes, among other things, recordings of the work carried out (technical validation) and delivery and assessment of documentation (part-delivery files, transfer files, final delivery dossier, etc). In view of the high time pressure, the Veessen-Wapenveld High Water Gully project was chosen to do this by means of a joint LEAN planning, which is in line with the implementation work. This planning is updated at least twice a week and provides an easy overview of links between the different activities.

At this moment, the work was successfully delivered to, and accepted by, the client on 30 August 2017.