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His Majesty the King officially inaugurated operation of the IJmuiden sea lock on Wednesday, 26 January 2022. With a push of a button, King Willem Alexander opened the inner door of the world’s largest sea lock from the Lock Operations Centre (SOC).

In the coming months, OpenIJ is working on the final stages of the construction of Zeesluis IJmuiden. This summer, OpenIJ delivers the largest sea lock in the world to Rijkswaterstaat. This will be followed by an extensive test phase of the lock gates (number 3 on the picture). Tests with sea-going ships are schedules as from October.

In March 2021, the last two lock gates on the canal side were successfully installed. The whole operation lasted four days. Edgar Breedveld and Victor Arnolds were involved in this milestone achievement. They directed the positioning process and ensured a good outcome.

Zeesluis IJmuiden will soon be ready for use. But first, staff will have to master the ins and outs of operating the lock. Mia Dröge is Strategic Advisor to the Harbour Master's Division of Port of Amsterdam. Together with a team, she will ensure that the lock can be operated safely.

There are also divers at work for the construction of Zeesluis IJmuiden (the new sea lock). They are busy with underwater engineering and construction activities. Max Schellenbach and Jan-Pieter Steunebrink of Boskalis are responsible for the Boskalis diving department and the execution of the work for OpenIJ. They told us about the work of their divers.

A larger lock means bigger ships and more salt water. The locking process creates large volumes of fresh or salt water flowing into or out of the lock and water turbulence may scour out holes near the inner and outer lock heads, undermining them.