Project record

Port of Rotterdam Yangtzekanaal widening and quay programme

Aerial view of the Yangtzekanaal access channel between active Maasvlakte 2 container and industrial terminals in Rotterdam

Port of Rotterdam Authority / Aeroview

Rotterdam's Yangtzekanaal programme has moved from a three-phase access plan through a completed 500-metre tug quay and into the 1,450-metre inland-shipping quay. A vibration-driven method change, enabling cofferdam, sand reuse and live-channel work notices expose the delivery mechanics; post-2028 channel dredging remains a separate package.

Project signal

Construction in Netherlands

Track the programme by package and acceptance gate. Completion of the tug quay does not prove completion of the inland-shipping quay, and neither quay package proves that the later deepening and widening works have been procured, executed, or hydrographically accepted.

Current status Phase A tug quay complete; Phase B inland-shipping quay started; Phase C dredging remains a post-2028 package Source confidence Confirmed

Location

Netherlands / Europe

Segment

Port infrastructure

Status

Phase A tug quay complete; Phase B inland-shipping quay started; Phase C dredging remains a post-2028 package / Confirmed

Evidence reviewed

15 July 2026

Controlled taxonomy

Related sectors

The detailed segment above is the primary work classification. These broader sector links connect the project to related delivery and market research.

Project anatomy

Scope, counterparties, and execution logic

Client / authority
Port of Rotterdam Authority
Delivery parties
Hakkers, De Klerk, Van Oord
Contract route
The 500-metre Phase A tug quay was awarded directly to the Hakkers-De Klerk-Van Oord consortium in June 2023. The owner says Phase B used a two-phase contract: a construction-team phase was awarded in September 2024 for design optimisation through the end of 2025, followed by the implementation phase. The current project page says Phase B has been awarded and works started in 2026, but it does not disclose a separate implementation award date or contract price.
Execution window
Phase A ran from 2023 to 2026 and the owner now marks its 12-berth tug quay complete. Phase B is scheduled from 2026 to 2028 for the inland-shipping quay. Phase C channel widening and deepening is placed after 2028. These dates are package windows, not evidence that every nautical, utility, or operating acceptance has closed.
Works package
Phase A delivers 500 metres of tug quay with 12 berths and shore power. Phase B delivers 1,450 metres of inland-shipping quay west of Antarcticakade, about 30 berths for different vessel sizes, shore power, and a heavy-load zone. Phase C is intended to widen and deepen the channel for future vessel movements; the owner links it to two-way traffic for ships up to 30,000 TEU and one-way access at up to 17.3 metres draught.
Marine interfaces
The works sit in an operating access channel serving Maasvlakte 2 container terminals, with continuous commercial navigation, tug and inland-vessel berthing, long quay-wall foundations, ground response, nearby assets, shore-power systems, heavy-load operations, later dredging, navigational geometry, and future hydrographic acceptance all interacting. The Phase A construction record shows that piling vibration and settlement risk can force a method change even after detailed preparation.
Commercial read
Port of Rotterdam and contractor disclosures confirm the Phase A consortium and the Phase B two-phase delivery route. They do not publish the Phase B implementation price or a Phase C dredging contract. The owner-reported capacity effects are programme objectives tied to specific packages and cannot become current vessel-access guarantees before the relevant quay, channel, aids, operational and hydrographic acceptances are documented.
Next milestone
Track dated Phase B quay-wall execution, confirmation of the implementation award boundary and price if published, progress on the 30 berths, shore-power and heavy-load systems, 2028 civil and operating handover, and a separate Phase C procurement record defining dredging method, quantities, sediment route, channel geometry, navigational aids, and acceptance hydrography.

Material change register

What changed, when, and what it proves

Only source-bound events that alter phase, scope, counterparties, delivery, completion, commissioning, or acceptance are listed. A change can advance the record without proving the next gate.

Phase A completed and Phase B field construction started

The current owner page advances the programme from Phase A wall installation and Phase B design into a completed 12-berth tug quay and active 1,450-metre inland-shipping quay. Phase B berth, shore-power, heavy-load and operating acceptance remain open, with Phase C dredging scheduled after 2028.

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Phase A built the enabling cofferdam and reused 80,000 cubic metres of sand

The 2025 annual report identifies a 1,500 by 40 metre temporary watertight structure for Phase B and early material reuse, while recording that the next investment decision and permit still followed at that reporting point. The current programme page later supersedes that planning state with Phase B award and start.

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Harbourmaster notice confirmed south-bank sheet-pile and dredging activity

The notice placed work vessels, stone removal, sheet-pile removal and installation, and dredging in the live channel from 24 November 2025 to 6 March 2026. It is field-execution and navigation-control evidence, not proof of completed quay or accepted channel geometry.

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Ground response forced a vibration-free quay-wall method

Unexpected vibration and settlement risk beside the Rhenus warehouse stopped conventional piling. The team adopted a 30-metre trench with cement-bentonite so foundation pipes and sheet piles could sink into place; the wall was installed by publication, while final section completion remained a later gate.

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Phase B construction-team stage was awarded

The first stage of the two-phase contract moved the inland-shipping quay into contractor-supported design optimisation through the end of 2025. It did not by itself establish the implementation award, price, construction start or accepted berth system.

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Phase A construction started in the operating access channel

The authority's 2023 year-end record confirms field execution began on the 500-metre quay and 12 tug berths. Shore power, berth operation and the later Phase B and C outcomes remained unresolved.

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Phase A contracts were signed with Hakkers, Van Oord and De Klerk

The owner award fixed the 500-metre quay, 12-berth scope and contractor consortium, and anticipated work after summer. Contract signature did not prove mobilisation, installed wall, commissioning or the award of later phases.

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The owner published the three-phase access programme

The programme separated tug berths, inland-shipping berths and later navigation-channel dredging, with different vessel-access objectives. At that point there were no contracts, construction records or achieved-access evidence.

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Delivery watch

Evidence needed next

Track dated Phase B quay-wall execution, confirmation of the implementation award boundary and price if published, progress on the 30 berths, shore-power and heavy-load systems, 2028 civil and operating handover, and a separate Phase C procurement record defining dredging method, quantities, sediment route, channel geometry, navigational aids, and acceptance hydrography.

Decision watchpoints

  • Phase B implementation award boundary and disclosed commercial terms
  • Dated progress on the 1,450-metre quay wall and about 30 berths
  • Ground response, settlement control, and construction method changes
  • Shore-power and heavy-load-zone integration
  • Operating-channel restrictions and terminal continuity
  • Phase B civil, nautical, utility, and operating acceptance
  • Separate Phase C dredging scope, sediment route, and hydrographic acceptance

Related records 3

Project availability status

This public project page is a tracked market record rather than a tender notice, contractual commitment, or commercial instruction. Use the status, confidence label, evidence-review date, and source note together when judging how much weight to place on the signal.

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Record control

Evidence reviewed date is not a project-event date.

IMWO changes phase, participants, scope, completion, or acceptance wording only when a dated source establishes the change. The review date records when the evidence set was checked; it does not claim that physical work changed on that date.

Evidence reviewed 15 July 2026 Sources in this record 9

Source record

The March 2023 owner page and one-pager define three packages and separate 18,000, 24,000 and future 30,000 TEU navigation objectives. Contracts for the 500-metre Phase A tug quay were signed with Hakkers, Van Oord and De Klerk on 19 June 2023, and the authority's year-end record says field work began that September. The current programme page records a September 2024 Phase B construction-team award and a later implementation stage, but does not disclose a separate implementation award date or price. The authority's May 2025 technical feature records a temporary stop after 30-metre piles caused unacceptable vibration and settlement risk, followed by a 30-metre trench, cement-bentonite and vibration-free foundation-pipe and sheet-pile method; by publication the wall was installed, while completion remained scheduled for spring 2026. The 2025 annual report separately says Phase A included a 1,500 by 40 metre temporary watertight cofferdam for Phase B and reused 80,000 cubic metres of sand while the next investment decision and permit were still pending at that reporting point. A November 2025 harbourmaster notice confirms south-bank sheet-pile and dredging activity with work vessels in the live channel. The current programme page now marks Phase A complete and Phase B started, superseding the earlier planning state, while Phase C remains after 2028 without a published dredging award or accepted channel geometry.

Phase: construction. Evidence reviewed: 15 July 2026.

Project sources 9