Plans for a new dredged material storage site in Zaanstad
The Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board (HHNK) and the municipality of Zaanstad have jointly purchased a plot of land to establish a new dredged material depot. Dredging the waterways in the urban area of Zaanstad requires a disposal site (depot) to receive the dredged material. After drying and screening, the dredged material in this depot is transported away and reused as fill material.
The site in question is a 9-hectare plot located between Kagerweg and Zeedijk in Assendelft. This location was chosen because it is large enough and easily accessible. It also causes minimal disruption to the surrounding area. The purchase of the plot is the first step; the next step (after this coming summer) is to apply for the necessary permits. Once these have been granted and the storage facility has been set up, previously postponed dredging work will be carried out in the municipality of Zaanstad.
Dredging ditches is necessary to ensure the flow and drainage of water, limit flooding, and improve water quality. Since 2016, the water board has been responsible for the management and maintenance of a large portion of the urban surface water in the municipality of Zaanstad. It is a legal requirement that anyone living along a watercourse must accept the dredged material from that ditch onto their property. In urban areas, this is often impossible or undesirable due to buildings and ornamental gardens. Therefore, the municipality of Zaanstad and HHNK have reached an administrative agreement whereby the municipality will make a plot of land available for a depot. HHNK will then set up the depot to receive the dredged material from the city and process it into reusable soil.
Until 2018, alldredged materialfrom Zaanstad could be transported to Afvalzorg’s Nauerna site. Since 2018, only contaminated dredged material from the “ ” has been transported to Afvalzorg’s Middenmeer site. Until two years ago, a solution for the disposal of reusable dredged material was always found in other municipalities. Given the large amount of dredged material generated in Zaanstad, this is no longer possible. As a result, dredging operations have been postponed since then. Since 2016, the municipality of Zaanstad has been searching for a suitable storage site for the reusable dredged material. This was a complex task that has been completed with the purchase of this plot.