LANTIS, the project developer responsible for the prestigious ‘Oosterweel link’, which will complete the Antwerp Ring Road, has awarded the contract for the construction of the Scheldt tunnel to the Tijdelijke Handelsvereniging Combinatie Oosterweeltunnel (THV COTU) consortium today.

THV COTU is composed of the Belgian construction groups DEME, BESIX, BAM Contractors and Jan De Nul, and the total contract value is EUR 570 million. Eight tunnel elements of approximately 60,000 tonnes each will be built in the inner port of Zeebrugge and then towed to Antwerp via the North Sea and the Western Scheldt, where they will be immersed in a pre-dredged trench in the River Scheldt in Antwerp.