Hydraulic systems must always perform for 100%

Smarter solutions

Whereas previously the sluice gates were driven by electric motors, this is now done with hydraulic systems. Construction consortium Levvel (BAM, Van Oord, Rebel and Invesis) engaged HYCOM for this purpose. The aggregates and cylinders for the new pump channels used to expand the flood barrier also come from the factory of this specialist in hydraulic systems.

As part of the HYDAC group, HYCOM has been supplying hydraulics to the most prestigious projects, worldwide, for 45 years. In the Netherlands, the company is involved in various civil works, such as the hydraulic system for the Botlek Bridge and the overhaul of the Volkerak Locks, part of the busy shipping route the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt Delta. 

Value Creation

The company with branches in Apeldoorn, Enschede and Drachten is involved in three sub-assignments: hydraulic cylinders, power units and controls for the new pumping equipment, the pump channels and the floodgate. "Wherever people want to get the most out of natural forces, we offer the best hydraulic solutions," says Dick de Winkel, managing director at HYCOM. "So too for the Afsluitdijk. Over two years we had several Value Creation sessions in which we optimized the basic design to get the best out of the system. This made things smarter on the front end in terms of sustainability, innovation, time and value creation. For example, we ended up with winch drive instead of cylinder drive, combined pump units and the piping was extended to cover the distance between the different hydraulic pump units." Hycom engaged its sister company ELMA for the electrical controls. ELMA is responsible for the switch boxes and for the software to control the hydraulics. 

Industry 4.0

Innovation is reflected, among other things, in predicting long-term maintenance. "We paid a lot of attention to the possibility of digitization. This allows us to predict long-term maintenance, among other things. For example, the sensors, which are included in the design."

Machine Safety

In addition, a lot of time has been invested in machine safety. This is becoming increasingly important, according to De Winkel. "We have tackled this integrally. We have a specialist with all the knowledge and expertise for this. We map all the risk factors and then find the right solution for them: can people work safely, is everything shielded properly, but also how can you get redundancy in the system? After all, the hydraulic systems must always perform for 100%."

Future-proof

"In terms of size, the Afsluitdijk is one of the larger Dutch projects for our company. A project with prestige and in terms of complexity a challenge in terms of project management, detail engineering and machine safety. In cooperation with Levvel, we have developed and delivered a hydraulic system that suits a future-proof Afsluitdijk."