The Pen | Michèle Blom

The future starts now!

The GWW sector is in tremendous flux. We have definitely left the crisis behind us. Construction activity is buzzing all over the country. But those who are up to their ears in work often take too little time to look ahead. And that is exactly what is needed at this time. After all, there are many developments in our country that call for reflection.

Just look at climate change. The weather is becoming more erratic. 2018 was conclusive proof of that. In early January, for the first time, we had to close all five of our storm surge barriers at the same time. A spring with extreme high water on the rivers was followed by a summer that was the driest in recent history.

So we cannot avoid making our country climate-proof and waterproof. Until 2028 alone, more than 1,100 kilometers of dikes and 256 locks and pumping stations must be reinforced. And we want to quickly transform the IJsselmeer into a sustainable freshwater reservoir.

But climate is not the only challenge we face in the coming decades. The bridge collapse in Genoa further underscored the importance of proper maintenance. In the coming decades, hundreds of bridges, viaducts, locks and dams will need a thorough overhaul. With that, this country faces the largest maintenance task in our history.

On top of that, mobility has increased dramatically again since the crisis. To protect our national transportation economy, at least another 1,000 kilometers of additional asphalt will be needed until 2032.

Work to be done, in other words. The Netherlands needs a major overhaul. But those who delve into its implementation also see the dilemmas. We really will be working all over the country in the coming decades. How do we prevent the Netherlands from getting stuck?

How do we deal with disruption, breakdowns and dangerous situations? And how do we staff all those projects?

Moreover, we need sustainable innovations more urgently than ever. After all, the infrastructure we are working on must function in tomorrow's world. How do we already make our roads suitable for self-driving cars and smart mobility? How do we achieve climate-neutral infrastructure and maximum reuse of materials by 2030? 

We wrestle with many questions. But what is clear is that the task facing our sector is comprehensive, urgent and complex. These issues cannot be solved in the old familiar way. The rate of innovation in our construction sector country really needs to go up quickly.

This is why I want to work with the sector to tackle the most important issues head on. We must consider the developments that will dominate our work until 2030 and make agreements on how we will do things differently together.

By this I do not only mean our production and innovation task. Our commissioning authority also belongs on the table. We will have to work together. Unburden and protect each other. After all, innovation and experimentation are always accompanied by teething problems and teething troubles. We do not want to leave those risks unilaterally to the market.

The challenge is to achieve a return that is healthy for society, the sector and the shareholders. If a great social responsibility rests on your shoulders, you should be able to get a fair reward in return. I am committed to agreements and contracts that are fair, that stimulate innovation and efficiency and that reduce failure costs. That is what I want to discuss with the GWW sector in the coming year.

We can't wait too long. Between the drawing board and the completion of a project, there is soon a ten-year gap. That's why Rijkswaterstaat's motto is: 'The future starts now!' Let's start thinking now about a climate-proof, sustainably designed country. With a robust, future-proof infrastructure. And an innovative, competitive and thriving GWW sector!

Michèle Blom, Director-General of the Department of Public Works