The covenant underscores the industry’s commitment to increasingly clean operations. This means reduced CO₂, nitrogen and soot emissions. Clear steps will be taken in transition and transformation paths towards the ultimate goal: zero-emission projects. A lot of construction equipment and projects are covered by the covenant. This includes mobile equipment, logistics, offshore construction projects, and so on. A participating commissioning party can choose between a basic level or an ambitious level where zero-emissions is increasingly required as standard. Hakkers shows ambition Sustainability in structural hydraulic engineering and foundation engineering is not simple. For example, electrical infrastructure is not present at the work site and work requiring high voltage is carried out. Nevertheless, Hakkers is building a sustainable fleet of equipment on several fronts. Our first 100% zero-emission work vessel is currently under construction. In late October, the first all-electric foundation set was started on the Rijnkade Arnhem dike reinforcement project. Our MS Frans piling vessel is currently being re-equipped with Stage V engines. Furthermore, we are increasingly using batteries and solar panels and all new company cars are electric. Responsibility The Clean and Emission-Free Building Covenant supports the climate ambitions within our sustainable business vision. Our actions are inextricably linked to current global warming. The choices we make now determine the future. Recognising our responsibility forces us to face those consequences and take action. Hakkers does so by reducing its ecological footprint and taking an active role in creating sustainable infrastructure. Our eventual ambition is to be climate-neutral by 2050.

The desire to innovate anchoring arose from the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s need to reinforce existing quays to accommodate larger ships with greater draughts. A precondition requires that the work will not disrupt the daily operations of one of Europe’s busiest ports. The Port of Rotterdam Authority made a test site available at Seinehaven. After three years of preparation, design and development, the machine from Hakkers Funderingstechniek was put into operation for the first time. We look back on a useful work week in which we gathered a lot of data on what works well, what needs attention and what further development is needed for a fully deployable solution. Different equipment was available to properly conduct and closely monitor the test during a visit to the site on the quayside of the Humberweg in Rotterdam. We meet Project Leader Jordy Schutte, who graduated in 2017. His studies focused on innovations for quay reinforcement and a future-proof Port of Rotterdam. He is now watching his theories being put into practice. As we speak with him, the underwater anchor drill is below the water table inserting an anchor into the sheet piling. “Both the penetration of the sheet piling and the drilling itself do not cause any vibration. We are quite satisfied with that,” he says. And in fact, looking at the surface of the water, you can’t tell that the drill is actually working. No activity is visible to the eye while an anchor steadily penetrates the soil metre by metre. Jordy continues, “The beauty of this innovation is that it is a success for the entire Hakkers Group. Our fields of Hydraulic Engineering, Foundation Engineering and Steel Construction all contribute to the various facets of the work. We use steel products from Geotech Metals. The sum of all the parts adds value to the project objective: “efficiently installed quay reinforcement without disturbing the surrounding area.” Besides using the underwater anchor drill to reinforce existing quay walls, Hakkers sees other applications for this technology in the near future. On Thursday, 7 September, a well-attended information day was organised by Hakkers at the project site. The underwater anchor drill was presented and delegations from port companies from the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as engineering firms, learnt about this unique innovation and saw the underwater anchor drill in action. We look back on a successful day.

The widening of the Twente canals is a project aimed at improving the canals and making them suitable for larger vessels. Widening and deepening the canals will allow larger cargo ships with greater cargo capacity to navigate the canals. This increases the efficiency of freight transportation and contributes to the economic development of the region. Besides deepening the canal, the Van Oord – Hakkers – Beens Group consortium, together with the Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Public Works), replaced 47 kilometres of sheet piling. About 12 kilometres of this was replaced with nature-friendly banks. Commissioned by the Department of Public Works, a pilot test using innovative and sustainable materials was started. This resulted in 500 metres of plastic sheet piling. The widening of the Twente canals will have a significantly positive impact on the logistics sector and economy of the Twente region. It will allow companies to transport their goods more efficiently and promote the region’s competitiveness. Moreover, it will help transition road transportation to water transportation with a positive reduction in traffic congestion and environmental effects. We look back with pride on this wonderful project and thank the consortium members for the fantastic collaboration.

Once the final award was issued in early February 2023, the construction consortium immediately started preparing for the work. Work activities began in the autumn of 2023 with the expected completion by the end of 2025. Rijnkade safer, greener and more pleasant The Rijnkade is a dike that must be upgraded to meet future climate and high-water situations. The quay will be safer and have more space for meeting places, restaurants and pedestrians. The concept design was drawn up together with the residents, restaurants and other business owners who live and work on the Rijnkade. According to clients Waterschap Rijn en IJssel and Municipality of Arnhem, the construction consortium Van der Ven – Ballast Nedam – Hakkers distinguished itself with its emission reduction, collaboration and the prevention of inconvenience to local residents. “The fact that we will build emission-free means almost no nitrogen and less noise pollution for local residents. This is how we will ensure the Union of Water Boards’ ambition achieve a zero-emission construction site occurs by 2030,” said Water Board Director Frank Wissink of the Rijn and IJssel Water Board. Continuing to work for a water-safe Netherlands In this dike reinforcement project, Water Board Rijn and IJssel are collaborating with the Municipality of Arnhem and the Province of Gelderland. The Rijnkade dike reinforcement is part of the national High Water Protection Programme (HWBP). Many of the dikes in the Netherlands will be reinforced. This is the largest dike reinforcement operation in the Netherlands since the Delta Works. It involves some 1,500 kilometres of dikes and 400 locks and pumping stations. Want more info about this project? Visit the Rijn and IJssel Water Board website: https://www.wrij.nl/projecten/versterken-rijnkade-arnhem

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were only able to keep up with each other digitally. Nonetheless, our professional colleagues’ presentations made it clear we were not idle. Some companies focused on innovations, such as our own underwater drill on display at the Hakkers booth. Other companies were concerned with how their footprint impacted the world. Almost all of us were evaluating some combination of these themes. The main idea that the world is ready for change – including in our field – was embodied in the different presentations during InfraTech. Sustainability in products What stood out in particular was the manufacturing of products in a sustainable manner or taking advantage of standard principles. As a company specialising in installing steel sheet piling, we were interested in the concept of the energy sheet piling as presented by several companies in collaboration with the universities of Eindhoven and Delft. This is an example of ‘two for the price of one’. You install the walls because you need physical barriers and these walls in particular because of their characteristics. For example, conductive steel sheet piling can act as a heat exchanger and sustainably extract heat and energy from the soil. Innovation Sustainable building was one of the key words in InfraTech’s innovation corner. The focus included the sustainable installation of concrete structures that require less reinforcement and up to 50 per cent less concrete. Such reductions really make a difference. Innovations like these are needed to future-proof the industry in a world where resources are scarce and costs are high. Hakkers is keeping an eye on such developments. Infratech certainly provided inspiration in this respect.

Our industry must deal with the sustainability challenge. We are working hard to reduce our carbon footprint by using biofuels, solar panels and updating our equipment. However, a completely carbon-neutral project is not yet possible. So, Hakkers is partnering with four nearby farmers to sequester carbon on farmland, also known as Carbon Farming. This allows us to offset the remaining residual emissions against sustainable projects. On Monday, 19 December 2022, the collaboration agreement was signed and celebrated at the town hall in Almkerk. Smart measures The pilot project will take five years, during which Hakkers will offset 40 tons of CO₂ per year. The farmers bind CO₂ in the soil using smart measures that harness the power of nature. Plants and crops convert CO₂ from the air into biomass. Different measures ensure that the carbon is actually retained in the soil. Besides binding CO₂, additional benefits include: an increase in biodiversity and agriculture is more resistant to climate extremes. The ‘local’ factor was decisive in the project. Working together in the region demonstrates that collaboration leads to progress. Hakkers capturing its CO₂ emissions at farms contributes to a sustainable future for both sectors. Additional participants welcome The Carbon Farming project is an initiative of GO2Positive, founded by the Southern Agricultural and Horticultural Organisation (ZLTO). Besides Hakkers, IVECO Schouten of Giessen is also a participant. The Municipality of Altena is supporting the initiative with a contribution and promotion. The four farmers are Landbouwbedrijf Straver (Almkerk), VOF Vermuë – Kivits (Hank), De Graaf VOF (Nieuwendijk) and Landbouwbedrijf Van der Schans (Drongelen). The carbon farmers can capture about 1,000 tons of CO₂ in 5 years. More carbon farmers are also ready to participate. So, it is still possible for companies that want to offset their carbon emissions to participate. Learn more: GO2Positive  

The Wilmar jetty is the fifth successfully completed jetty in a row for Hakkers. We have completed dozens of petrochemical jetties before, so we put our knowledge and experience to good use to win the tender for Wilmar. We received the highest score in the quality domain and a maximum score for quality and project control. This clearly demonstrates the Port Authority’s confidence in us. The jetty was built using a proven concept with which we are very familiar. It has a foundation of open tubular steel piles topped with a concrete deck made of precast slabs. For protection, we equipped it with a prefabricated steel fender and mooring poles. We can complete the design, prefabrication and production in a systematic and controlled manner by manufacturing the steel and concrete parts in our own workshops. Our experienced staff also allows us a great deal of flexibility with phasing and moving around the work according to the needs of the end customer. This ensures that Wilmar’s existing operations can continue smoothly at both the terminal and the port.