Van Aalsburg works on sustainable nature restoration of De Schorren, a salt marsh area on the Wadden coast

De Schorren: a unique salt marsh area on the northeast side of Texel with many unusual plants and animals. To protect the mudflats, prevent erosion and increase biodiversity, expansion dams were constructed in 1978. Commissioned by Natuurmonumenten, Van Aalsburg is carrying out the major maintenance on these, under the ecological supervision of Noordkop Groen (appointed by the managing director on this project: Ecogroen).

The rowwood breakwaters used previously are very maintenance-intensive: the willow between the posts had to be replaced frequently. In addition, there are progressive insights into the use of materials that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly, which was reason for Natuurmonumenten to carry out a larger package of maintenance measures on a one-time basis. It was up to Van Aalsburg to do that in a careful manner.

Unique expertise and machinery

Van Aalsburg has over fifty years of experience in working in and with nature. So too with the maintenance and placement of breakwaters. "We have already carried out several large projects in The Wadden Sea for Rijkswaterstaat, for example," says Dick van Aalsburg, of Van Aalsburg BV. "All our work we do with an eye for the vulnerability of the area. In doing so, we deploy our expertise and unique machinery, such as our marsh/wadden cranes, a modified tracked dumper with crane, and we have even applied a sliding plate behind the crane to minimize frustration of the area."

Softwood instead of willow

"At De Schorren, we erected new rowwood breakwaters over a length of about 3 kilometers. The old piles were removed and replaced and the willow wood previously used was replaced with softwood." According to Dick, that has been proven to last longer. "I notice that more and more nature organizations and also the Department of Public Works see the added value of this. Furthermore, we have moved a number of dams to a more effective location or removed them where they did not have the desired effect. We have also optimized the natural outflow points of the creeks, enhancing the natural dynamics. All with the aim of protecting the unique and dynamic nature reserve as well as possible and keeping the mudflats stable."

Protecting nature with nature

pew a great project from Van Aalsburg, protecting nature with nature. "We promote that very strongly and we also see that clients and customers are more and more concerned with that. It really fits into the picture of circular construction." It does require some research work when using natural products, according to Dick. "After all, you want to build something that will last. That's why Deltares is testing the rowwood breakwaters in the Delta flume right now." Meanwhile, Van Aalsburg is already working on another pilot on the salt marshes along the coast of Zeeland, in cooperation with the Province of Zeeland and Natuurmonumenten.