Pushing boundaries in precast concrete

Sound walls, foundation blocks, retaining walls, underground container containers ... it all comes from Van Dijk Beton's precast concrete plant. The company is not guided by conservatism, but pushes boundaries in precast concrete. And that not infrequently leads to wonderful innovations. 

Van Dijk Beton has been part of De Lek Gelkenes since 2017, making it a sister company of concrete mortar plant De Lek Beton. Its history goes back to the late 1950s when the company was founded by the Van Dijk brothers. "When the company was taken over in 2017, it was a bit under the dust, but new momentum soon emerged. The good is retainedm but with new products, new customers and new employees we have shaped Van Dijk Beton 2.0. We are proud of where we are today," said Marc Pijpers, general manager of Van Dijk Beton. "Although we have settled the necessary challenges in recent years, such as the nitrogen issue, corona, tight labor markets and huge fluctuations in raw material prices, the company stands like a house anno 2023. We operate in various sectors but mainly supply contractors active in civil engineering. Mostly order-related prefab but also products from stock. We are known as a reliable manufacturer and not only do we keep our promises, but we also find it important that cooperation is pleasant. We solve problems together, taking into account mutual interests. But not only that, the ambitions go further."

Cementless concrete

Since its founding six years ago, Van Dijk Beton has undergone a nice growth spurt. "We are known for our flexibility. Because we are compactly organized, we are able to anticipate things quickly," Marc continues. His colleague and project manager Paul de Vries adds: "In recent years, we have continued to shorten and improve our processes. This not only benefits our delivery speed and quality, but is also good for people and the environment. For example, we regularly use large percentages of secondary materials in our mixtures, such as certified concrete granulate. We are constantly working on optimizing mixtures with the Concrete Agreement in hand. We also use cement substitutes and even produce products in cementless concrete. For example, from ProRail's national innovation program, we made cementless platform walls. And for a pilot quay wall project in Amsterdam, we recently produced cementless hanging aprons. Great projects to test our knowledge and expertise and above all to show the market what we are capable of." 

While the concrete sector is characterized by conservatism, we make a difference by having an eye for the unknown, Marc emphasizes. "We reserve an annual budget of about 200,000 euros for innovations. Together with progressive customers, we try to push boundaries and look for new possibilities within those expanded boundaries. This sometimes produces surprising results. We go in search of the unknown. Seemingly impossible things, then 'suddenly' turn out to be possible after all." Paul: "That does mean that we sometimes operate outside the prevailing norms. After all, everything in the Netherlands is hung up on standards and Eurocodes. We are therefore constantly looking for clients who, like us, dare to think outside the box, and face the future with confidence."