Fareham-based Walcon Marin has supplied specially-made pontoons to a flood management project in the Netherlands.

Via its Benelux distributor W2 Support, Walcon has been part of the ‘Room for the River IJsseldelta’ project – a major undertaking that includes the deepening of seven kilometres of the River IJssel and the construction of a new flood channel, the Reevediep.

The result will be the creation of a new area for storing floodwater for managed release into the huge manmade lakes of the Drontermeer and Ijsselmeer – the latter being a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands which was once the Zuiderzee.

In addition to facilitating the flow of excess water, the Reevediep also forms an important link and shortcut in the network of sailing routes between the bordering lakes around the province of Flevoland and the river IJssel. Walcon Marine and W2 Support have engineered and supplied the pontoons for the fairways either side of the lock that connects the channel with lakes, located on the newly-built dyke of the river IJssel.

In total five jetties, each 100 metres in length, have been supplied to main contractor Boskalis.

“This has been a very satisfying project that demonstrates our ability to deliver custom solutions down to the finest details,” says James Walters, managing director of Walcon Marine. “We worked closely with the project architects to ensure that they achieved exactly the effect and style that they sought.