Taskforce to speed up new Zeebrugge lock is in place

The complex New Zeebrugge Lock project ran aground in October due to an unexpectedly large workload for examining some 20 design alternatives. The location of the Visart lock had been definitively fixed since all opposing parties stopped their proceedings at the Council of State in early June. But in October came the cold shower that the study bureaus do not have and find enough capacity to investigate the large number of design alternatives within the set deadline. There is talk of at least a year’s delay. As a result, the subsequent administrative and participation process would no longer be completed within the administrative period of the current Flemish government until 2024.