Afsluitdijk renovation is more expensive: it already costs 2 billion euros

Thus, the cost of renovating Afsluitdijk, located between the summit of North Holland and Friesland, will be at least twice as expensive as was thought four years ago.

When the contract was signed in 2018, it was a request of €921 million. But the costs have already risen to 1,785 million euros and now are an additional 221 million euros, Infrastructure and Water Management Minister Mark Harpers wrote in a letter to Parliament.

This brings the total provisional renewal amount to 2.006 billion euros.

design flaw

But this is not the end of the problem, because the renewal of the existing drainage channels is again being put up for tender. So the costs are not yet known.

The choke that appears now is due to a design error at Rijkswaterstaat. As a result, the design had to be adapted and construction also became more expensive.

Drainage costs

This relates to a total amount of 238 million euros. But since the renovation and strengthening of the existing drain holes on both sides of the dam (in Den Aufer and Kornwerdersand) as well as multi-year maintenance will be removed from the contract, the setback could be “limited” to €221 million.

The new tender for those activities now removed from the contract will come later on top of the €2 billion already earmarked for the Afsluitdijk renewal.

The 221 million setback takes into account the dispute between Rijkswaterstaat and the builders, which could cost a maximum of 87 million euros.