Project Delivery

Yangtzekanaal enters Phase B with its ground-risk lesson already exposed

Published 14 July 2026 Updated 15 July 2026 Editorial responsibility IMWO Region Europe Confidence Confirmed
Port of Rotterdam project team beside Yangtzekanaal quay-wall foundations and long steel elements during the completed Phase A works

Port of Rotterdam Authority, 2025 project feature

Rotterdam has completed the 500-metre tug quay and started the 1,450-metre inland-shipping quay, but Phase A's delivery history matters more than a headline percentage. Thirty-metre piles produced unacceptable vibration and settlement risk beside an operating warehouse, stopping the original method before a cement-bentonite trench allowed foundation pipes and sheet piles to sink into place without vibration. That lesson now follows Phase B into a live access channel serving Maasvlakte 2.

What changed

The current Port of Rotterdam programme page is the controlling status record for Phase A completion, Phase B start and the post-2028 Phase C boundary. The authority's 2025 technical feature records the vibration-led work stop and replacement wall method. Its annual report records the 1,500 by 40 metre enabling cofferdam and 80,000 cubic metres of sand reuse while the next decision and permit were still open at that reporting point. The harbourmaster notice confirms live-channel activity but does not identify it as Phase B acceptance. The June 2023 contract, September 2023 start and September 2024 construction-team stage establish earlier steps, not current operating release or a Phase C dredging award.

Why it matters

Phase B adds about 30 inland-vessel berths, shore power, and a heavy-load zone, supported by a temporary watertight structure built during Phase A and 80,000 cubic metres of reused sand. A November 2025 harbourmaster notice also confirms sheet-pile, stone-removal and dredging activity with work vessels in the channel. These records expose ground movement, enabling works, construction navigation and system handover as separate risks; the post-2028 deepening package remains a different procurement and nautical-acceptance problem.

Decision read

What remains open

Read the programme through three independent evidence chains. Phase A civil completion still needs operating evidence for 12 tug berths, shore power, manoeuvring and service availability. Phase B needs dated wall production, settlement control, roughly 30 completed berths, heavy-load and shore-power integration, navigation controls and accepted handover by 2028. Phase C needs its own award, dredging quantities, material route, channel geometry, aids, acceptance hydrography and evidenced vessel movements. A completed wall cannot be used as proof that any later nautical or operating gate is closed.

Next watchpoints

  • Phase B implementation scope, commercial terms, and named delivery responsibilities
  • Quay-wall foundation method and ground-movement controls
  • Progress and acceptance of the 1,450-metre quay and about 30 berths
  • Shore-power, heavy-load, mooring, and operating-system handover
  • Navigation controls while construction proceeds beside active terminals
  • Phase C dredging award, volume, method, and sediment destination
  • Final channel geometry, navigational aids, and hydrographic acceptance

Related records 1

Sources used 9

Corrections and methodology

Facts are dated to the source record above. IMWO updates the brief when procurement, award, delivery, or scope evidence materially changes.

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