The River Scheldt had tested the company’s ingenuity long before the Liefkenshoek Tunnel project. In 1933, our predecessors had already contributed to the first tunnel connections that had been made beneath the river. And more than fifty years later, the company returned to help build the Liefkenshoek Tunnel.

The construction of the immersed tunnel called for one of the largest dredging operations ever undertaken on the River Scheldt. To make room for the immersed tunnel elements, a trench was excavated in the riverbed, which required the removal of more than five million cubic meters of soil while international shipping traffic continued to pass safely nearby.

A fleet of cutter suction dredgers and bucket dredgers worked in close coordination to create the trench with exceptional accuracy. However, the Scheldt's strong currents posed a constant challenge, causing sediment to flow back into the excavated area. As a result of this, until the final immersion works were completed, dredging vessels remained on standby to keep the trench clear and ensure the required depth and accuracy.

The excavated material was also given a new purpose. Sand that was deemed suitable was reused for land reclamation and port development in the Waaslandhaven area, while clean sand from nearby port basins was later used to backfill the trench. This project remains a landmark example of DEME's expertise in dredging, marine engineering, and complex infrastructure works.