A concrete utilities conduit has been successfully installed beneath the railway tracks at the Maasvlakte, marking a significant milestone in the construction of the Maasvlakte Zuid Railway Yard.
The operation was carried out through close collaboration between clients ProRail and the Port of Rotterdam Authority and contractors Swietelsky, Van der Linden Beton, Boskalis, De Koning and CT De Boer.
The conduit, comprising two tunnel pipes, was pre-assembled from precast concrete sections in an excavated trench alongside the track.
During a planned shutdown, the track was excavated and the complete tunnel structure was pushed into position using a hydraulic system, enabling the work to be completed quickly and with minimal disruption to the Locomotive Workshop Rotterdam and existing train services.
The installation is designed to future-proof the railway infrastructure by eliminating the need to excavate tracks in the future to lay cables and pipes beneath the line. The conduit will facilitate the routing of new utilities, including energy transition infrastructure, beneath the railway with minimal surface disruption.
In parallel, Strukton and KPN are relocating a water main and a pressure pipeline, with casing pipes already installed to accommodate the new pipe runs once the conduit is in place.
The conduit installation forms part of the first phase of the Maasvlakte Zuid Railway Yard project, being implemented jointly by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and ProRail.
This phase encompasses the construction of the first bundle of six tracks and associated connections to existing railway infrastructure, with the first bundle expected to enter service in mid-2027.
The remaining tracks will be constructed in subsequent phases.
The new railway yard is intended to accommodate growing rail freight volumes moving from the Maasvlakte to the European hinterland, as container throughput at the Port of Rotterdam is projected to increase steadily in the coming years.
