Big Pumps For Floating Tunnel Elements

Anyone who has ever visited Antwerp must have noticed that the Antwerp R1 ring road is missing a connecting link. The idea to close the link by means of a tunnel was first proposed in 1996 but the Oosterweel tunnel project is currently in full swing. Eight tunnel elements of approximately 60,000 tons each are built in a dry dock in the inner port of Zeebrugge. Rental Pumps was commissioned to fill up the 800.000m³ dry dock to get the tunnel elements floating Once a float they will be towed a 100km stretch to Antwerp via the North Sea and the Western Scheldt where they will be immersed in a pre-dredged trench in the River Scheldt in Antwerp. Over 250Kw of electrical pumping power was installed to provide the necessary amount of water to get these immense elements floating.

15 april 2025