Westerveld pumping station ready for the future

Waterboard Drents Overijsselse Delta (WDODelta) has over 600 automated pumping stations and dams in its management area. To ensure that they remain in good condition, a unique renovation program has been set up, in which knowledge from the market is connected via a multi-year framework agreement with three market parties: Van Heteren, Dubbink and Pannekoek. Van Heteren is currently replacing the old 1965 Westerveld pumping station near Langenholterdijk 3 in Zwolle.

The pumping stations and dams in WDODelta's management area are renovated or replaced on average once every 25 years. "That means a large number of pumping stations and dams have to be renovated or replaced every year. And we desperately need the market for that," says Erik Wiggers, project manager at WDODelta. "That was the reason we set up the renovation program five years ago to put this work away for several years in framework agreements with various construction teams." It is now already the second contract period for Van Heteren. "Together with the other two contractors, a balanced distribution is made. So we don't do mini-competitions within the framework agreement, but together determine who can best pick up which objects." 

Same team

The existing Westerveld pumping station from the 1960s was technically at the end of its service life and no longer met today's requirements. Its capacity was also no longer adequate. The decision was made to build a new building at almost the same location and with a larger capacity. "In 2021 we built a similar pumping station (Cellemuiden, ed.) within the framework agreement," says Ewout Aman, project manager at Van Heteren. "So we picked up pumping station Westerveld with the same team. On the one hand to keep up the speed, but also to avoid reinventing the wheel twice. Points for improvement from Cellemuiden pumping station were immediately incorporated into the design of Westerveld pumping station." Erik adds: "That's the beauty of the renovation program. We learn an awful lot from each other. Thanks to the construction team construction with experienced people on board, the lead time is incredibly short, which means we can build these kinds of pumping stations very quickly. In the past, that was unthinkable through traditional tendering. Risks are also identified at an early stage. The water board ends up realizing more for less money, with better quality and with more job satisfaction."

Water safety

For practical reasons, the new Westerveld pumping station was built next to the old one. "The space was there to move up slightly so that the existing pumping station could remain in operation during the new construction," Ewout clarified. "The pumping station is located in a primary water barrier. We therefore engaged Witteveen+Bos in the design process because of its specific design knowledge relating to primary flood defenses. And in particular to work out the double retaining structure, both for the steel pressure pipes and the fish passage that was also newly constructed." Van Heteren then started work outdoors in early May 2023 to create a construction pit on both sides of the dike. "In this, the work was carried out almost in parallel, which meant that we were out of the ground just before the construction vacation. Then we went through the dike with the pipes in just three weeks. Then the superstructure was realized and by mid-November we already had the two pumps running." The new pumping station has two concrete volute pumps from Bosman Watermanagement with a capacity of 53 m each³ per minute.

Pumping Station Westerveld is in the trajectory of the dyke reinforcement project Stadsdijken Zwolle. "We brought the new construction forward a bit in the planning so that the pumping station would be ready when the dike reinforcement starts," says Erik. "And we succeeded, since the pumps are already running. It can be attributed to Van Heteren's expertise. They have the knowledge, skill and all the resources to carry on steadily and well from design to execution." And on it goes, because Van Heteren is already preparing the next four projects within the dams and pumping stations renovation program of Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta.