The financial drama surrounding the construction of the new Botlek Bridge is not over yet. This is what Het Financieele Dagblad writes on the basis of a letter that Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, sent to the House of Representatives earlier this week. According to the letter, the contractors involved are paying for the extra costs of making the lift across the Oude Maas suitable for rail traffic. This also means there is a delay in work. This is a response from the minister to questions from the House of Representatives in response to a report from construction newspaper Cobouw earlier this year. The problem project is part of the widening of the A15 motorway, for which Rijkswaterstaat already agreed years ago with the contractors Ballast Nedam, Oranjewoud subsidiary Strukton and the Austrian Strabag. The construction companies suffered substantial losses on the motorway project, the cost overruns of which amounted to more than 318 million euros It is not yet clear how long the delay will last. It is also not yet known how high the extra costs are. “As soon as there is more insight into the financial consequences, I will inform you about this”, says Van Nieuwenhuizen.
