First pumping station within framework agreement replaced

The pumping station Horn- en Stommeerpolder is the first pumping station Schouls has replaced within the framework agreement polder pumping stations with the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland. "And it was immediately also a challenging operation," Leen van Belen, project leader at Schouls, says. Especially the location was a challenge in terms of accessibility, the presence of a high-pressure gas pipeline and the proximity of a monumental mill.  

The Rijnland Water Board wants to speed up the replacement and updating of the existing pumping stations in its area, says Leen. "Together with the water board and the contractors, we looked at how we could flesh out the projects within the framework agreement. Ultimately, we opted to tackle the projects in a construction team construction, involving the contractor early in the process and working out the projects together. Five pumping stations will be completed this year, and we already have another five in preparation that will go into operation next year. All in a construction team context," Leen assures.

Watching in the kitchen

Before, we had to develop a design based on requirements from the water board, now we work together on the design, says Leen. "That's quite a change and improvement for both parties. Especially also for the water board, because we are looking into the kitchen, but so far it is going very well. In a construction team we tackle the pumping stations with a regular club of people." Schouls also deliberately anticipated this. "We have our own engineers in house, our own designers and invested in an expansion in the business office. In this way we can relieve clients from A to Z, from devising the plans to execution and delivery. We are also able to produce concrete structures ourselves in our workshop in Koudekerk aan den Rijn." 

Pontoon Bridge

One of Schouls' highlights within the 2024 framework agreement for polder pumping stations was the completion of Horn- and Stommeerpolder pumping station in Aalsmeer. "It is so far the largest pumping station within the framework agreement and in terms of accessibility quite a challenge," Leen reflects. The pumping station lies against the inlet in the barrier with a monumental windmill right next to it. A maximum load of 10 tons was allowed on the barrier. Of course that was not enough. So we made most of the work via a pontoon bridge and auxiliary constructions from bottom to top of the quay. We also had to deal with a high-pressure gas line through the work. Relief structures were installed for this and specific management measures were taken to ensure safety. A temporary pumping station was then installed and we completely demolished the old pumping station and built a new one at the same location with a larger capacity and a new control system."

Just before the summer vacation of 2024, Schouls completed pumping station Horn- and Stommeerpolder with the water board. "It provides a nice basis to build on," believes Leen who notices that such a form of cooperation is now trickling down to other clients. "More and more clients are seeing the benefits of investing in long-term contracts instead of putting objects out to tender individually each time. And we from Schouls only applaud that."