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Coastal defense and
riverbank protection

Boskalis is a leading global player in the field of coastal defense and riverbank protection. We design, construct and maintain hard sea barriers, such as dikes, dams and flood barriers, and also soft sea defenses, such as beach and near-shore replenishment. In addition, we provide innovative solutions for forms of coastal protection based on the principles of building with nature such as the sand motors and the use of mangroves.

Ensuring safety and natural balance

Safety and a natural balance are the most important aspects of good coastal protection. Our vast experience and expertise enable us to assist you with the economic and environmental assessment of your coastal protection project. We have a proven track record and the drive to maintain a well-balanced ecosystem.


Our innovative and building with nature solutions

  • Sand motors use natural forces like tides, wind, currents and waves to spread sand along the coast from a central replenishment location.
  • The creation of a wave-reducing system. Examples are the combined approach of land reclamation and new mangrove forests to protect the North Java coastal area in Indonesia and a green wave reducing dike in The Netherlands. A willow forest, planted along the front of the dike, is expected to be able to absorb up to 80% of the waves’ force.

Our projects

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Coastal protection, St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a UNESCO World Heritage City, but its location along the River Neva means that it has been threatened by over 300 floods since its founding by Peter the Great in 1703. The completion of the new 25 km long storm-surge barrier across the Gulf of Finland ensures that the city will no longer be vulnerable to high tides and devastating floods. As a result of the new Flood Protection Barrier, however, the old winding access channel had to be replaced with a new, straighter, more easily navigable channel.

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Coastal protection, Delfland coast

In August 2008 Van Oord and Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. have been awarded a contract by the Dutch Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management to reinforce a weak link in the Delflandse coast . The contract is worth EUR 120 million of which Van Oord and Boskalis have an equal share.

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Cleanup, Zellingwijk area

The Zellingwijk quarter of the village of Gouderak was built in the middle of the last century. In the early 1980s it became clear that the soil underneath this residential area was heavily contaminated as a result of the dumping of waste - mainly mineral oils and pesticides. The homes built on the site were subsequently demolished in the mid-1980s. Pending definitive remediation work, a layer of concrete / asphalt was applied to seal the site.

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Overview activities, Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an island located in the Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia and north of Qatar and connected with its neighbour Saudi Arabia since the year 1980 with a 25 km long causeway. The archipelago consists of some 30 islands with a total of 160 km of shoreline and has a population of 800,000. Whereas the surface of Bahrain in the year 1960 was around 650 km2, the last decennia have seen a steady increase in the surface till a respectable figure of 740 km2 in 2007. This increase has been achieved by a various number of small and mayor reclamation projects.

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Early works for LNG plant, Brass Island

The Brass LNG Project’s objective is to construct a LNG Complex on Brass Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, and in so doing, develop Nigeria’s abundant gas resources, reduce the adverse effect of gas flaring on the environment, and provide social-economic benefits to the local and wider Nigerian communities. The LNG complex will be designed to produce approximately 10 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG, as well as LPG and Residual NGL products.

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Port expansion, Gijón

The Spanish port of Gijón on the Bay of Biscay processes more than 12 million tonnes of bulk goods annually. With the expansion of global trade and increasing ship sizes, the terminal was lacking capacity to handle the traffic. The maximum draft for the ships of 18 meters is another obstacle to the development of the port. So the Port Authority of Gijón developed a plan for additional modern facilities in an area measuring 145 hectares to the north of the existing port. This includes a bulk terminal with a transfer capacity of more than 25 million tons and a storage area measuring 60 hectares for a maximum of 2 million tons of coal and iron ore a year.

Our brands

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Boskalis Dragamex

Our company providing dredging and marine services in Mexico.

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Boskalis Hirdes

Our hydraulic engineering company in Germany.

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Boskalis Nederland

Infrastructure projects on land and water in The Netherlands.

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Boskalis Terramare

Expertise for demanding marine construction projects in the Nordic region.

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Boskalis Westminster

Our dredging and marine contractor in the UK.

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Dredging

For dredging and infrastructure related queries contact our Dredging department.

More about Boskalis

Building with Nature

Boskalis proactively developed Building with Nature to gain insight into the impact of hydraulic engineering projects on ecosystems.

Company profile

All about Boskalis - an overview of the company’s background, global presence, our activities, clients, and experts, and our vision for the future.

Careers

If you are interested in finding out more about what it is like to work for us, take a look at our dedicated Careers website. Here you will find our current vacancies, information about our traineeships, and much more.