Guaranteed land deliveries

In order to relieve Boskalis, the main contractor, of all the worries in this respect, Van Grunsven and Langenhuijzen Transport and Slibbank Nederland joined forces as partners to do the job together. A collaboration that tastes like more. For all parties.

"A contractor increasingly wants to be unburdened and to know at the front what they are 'losing', especially on large projects like the N69," begins Anton van Grunsven, director of Van Grunsven and Langenhuijzen Transport. "Calling in a random soil bank and ditto transport company often doesn't make things easier for the main contractor. It also requires the necessary coordination. We jumped into that 'gap' by making a joint offer as transport company and soil bank. Including all peripheral matters, placing weighbridges and coordination. So we take care of everything that comes our way and take risks away from the main contractor."

Regional supply

Between November 2019 and April 2021, the combination brought in over 700,000 tons of sand and soil and delivered another 100,000 tons of construction materials. "The desire was to source the supplied soil as much as possible from the region and thus make work with work," knows Bjorn Vissers of Slibbank Nederland. "That's what we as Slibbank Nederland specialize in. For deliveries of sand and soil, we had received offers from more than 1,000 different parties. Of these, we were able to apply just under 500 in this project because at the time of planning it met the needs of the work and the civil engineering requirements. Indeed, most of the flows were taken from regional works throughout Brabant, only once did we go outside the province. In this way, we were able to serve construction projects and land banks in the region well as a regular outlet."

Complex puzzle

It goes without saying that all deliveries comply with legal requirements. Vissers: "The moment a batch of soil is offered, its quality is assessed from both a civil-engineering and an environmental point of view. We draw up a report and, if approved, take care of the contract formation and complete administration in accordance with the Soil Quality Decree. The logistics for the supply to the N69 were then planned by Van Grunsven and Langenhuijzen Transport. A coordinator from us was then on site to supervise both the soil flows and the trucks. After all, Boskalis' wish was to apply the soils directly to the right location." Van Grunsven adds: "The coordinator was also the first point of contact for the Boskalis contractor. After all, every day was different.     

The supply was closely linked to Boskalis' planning on the one hand and the supply from the market on the other. This was sometimes a complex puzzle, also taking into account fixed driving routes to limit the pressure on the surrounding villages."

Closing records

When you consider that a sand truck can carry an average of 30 tons, there have been quite a few vehicle movements. "At least 30,000 vehicle movements," Van Grunsven calculates. "Apart from our joint contract with the Slibbank, we also have a contract for the supply of hot asphalt and removal of milled asphalt. Here we tried to make as many combinations as possible for maximum utilization of our trucks. So, in fact, all soil flows on the job were supplied or removed through us. The groundwork was supplied by Boskalis itself. In order to keep everything on track and maintain an overview, weighbridges were placed at the front and back of the work site. In this way, everything was weighed into the work, which resulted in a balanced administration."

The project has now been completed for Slibbank. The bulk is also behind us for Van Grunsven and Langenhuijzen Transport. "Doesn't take away the fact that we will still supply quite a bit of hot asphalt in the coming period. At the time when the chain parks are dismantled, we will also make a contribution to leave the landscape tidy." Both men look back on a fine and smooth cooperation. "As two specialist companies, we are complementary to each other for such infra projects. We can completely unburden infra contractors. We received that trust from Boskalis and lived up to it. The cooperation tastes like more."