Saeftinghe Development Area
The Antwerp Port Authority continues with the preparations of the Saeftinghe Development Area, the northern enlargement of the port on the Left Bank of the River Scheldt.With the completion of the Strategic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), an important step will soon be taken towards the final zoning of the area on the left bank of the Scheldt. This area will provide opportunities for maritime, industrial and logistical development covering a total area of approximately 1070 ha (including docks).

The Regional Land Use Plan will translate this plan into a homogenous structure including the possible construction of a tidal container dock. More info...
 

Second lock on the left bank

An additional lock on the left bank is essential in order to ensure better sea access for the port of Antwerp. Flemish minister of Transport & Public Works Hilde Crevits declared: “At the moment the only access from the sea to the dock complex is via the Kallo lock. The new investment offers a response not only to the growing volume of shipping traffic on the left bank but also the greater size of ships. Furthermore, a second lock will afford greater security of operation for what is the second largest port in Europe, helping it to maintain its competitive position.” The investment confirms the recent report by the World Economic Forum, “The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012,” according to which the port infrastructure in Belgium is among the best in the world.

The new sea lock will be built on a similar design to the Berendrecht lock, with a width of 68 metres and length between gates of 500 metres. Or to put it another way, it will be as wide as a 19-lane highway and four times as long as the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp is high. Three times as much steel will be used in its construction as in the Eiffel tower. However, the Deurganckdock lock will be deeper than the Berendrecht, at 17.80 metres below the local datum level. The amount of concrete used for its construction will be enough for a building 35 floors high and covering an area the size of a football field. In other words, the new lock will be gigantic in all its dimensions. And yet the job of building it will demand precision engineering. For example the lock gates must close perfectly. The mechanism for the bridges that open must also be exact to the millimetre, as the rail tracks on the bridges and on either side must line up perfectly when the bridge opens and closes.

Liefkenshoek rail tunnel

The planning process for the Liefkenshoek rail tunnel, the proposed second rail link between the left and right banks, has entered its final phase. In December 2006 the Flemish Government took a definitive decision on the route; it had already given its approval for a system of prefinancing, so that the work can start earlier than planned. According to the schedule work will start in 2009, so that the tunnel can enter service at the end of 2013.

Oosterweel link

The Master Plan includes construction of an additional road that will form a connection between the left and right banks of the Scheldt, between city and port. This road, the Oosterweel link, will close the last gap in the Antwerp ringroad.