On Friday 8 September 2023, the new screw pumping station Royers Lock (NL: Royerssluis) near the Port House Antwerp was officially commissioned during a press moment. Water-link, in collaboration with Aquafin, awarded the contract to a consortium consisting of BESIX, BESIX Unitec, BESIX Environment and BESIX Infra in the Fall of 2019, and works started in February 2020. More than three years later, the installation is finished and the city of Antwerp is better protected against floods.

Adapting Antwerp’s drainage system

Because of the construction of a new inland lock, Antwerp’s drainage system had to be adapted. The former pumping station was demolished and has now been replaced by the new pumping station Royers lock, which is located both underground and above-ground. The new installation will evacuate rainwater and wastewater from the city centre, protecting the city against floods, among other things.

The pumping station comprises four large Archimedes’ screws that screw water from Antwerp’s city centre and some peripheral regions to a higher point, where it is transferred into the Scheldt River. Each screw has a capacity of 2 m³/s, which results in a total capacity of no less than 8,000 litres of water per second. In addition, a bypass canal is foreseen to drain water to the Scheldt by gravity instead of screwing it upwards. Thanks to this additional canal, the station’s energy consumption is lowered.

In the summer of 2022, the installation of the four screws took place. This was a complex operation, as there was only a couple of centimetres of free space between the screw and the concrete structure. However, it was executed flawlessly by the teams of BESIX and its partners. Each screw is 20 metres long, 3.2 metres wide and weighs 24 tonnes.

One-stop shop

The project is a good example of a one-stop shop, in which the areas of expertise of BESIX, BESIX Environment, BESIX Infra and BESIX Unitec are combined and an efficient and integrated solution can be offered to the client as a result. BESIX Infra was in charge of deviating the surrounding roads and the sewage works, while BESIX was responsible for the concrete works. Lastly, BESIX Unitec executed the controlled drillings and realised the electromechanical equipment of the screw pump in collaboration with BESIX Environment.

“We are enormously proud that we have contributed to a new drainage system for Antwerp with various entities of BESIX Group. This project is an amazing example of a one-stop shop that enables integrated solutions to our clients. Water-link and Aquafin could count on the experience and expertise available within our Group. We want to thank them for their trust and the collaboration.” – Jan Hannes, General Manager BESIX Infra