Less building materials on the road (Wednesday 14 December 2011)

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As part of multimodal transport, the project "Build over Water" will organize the transportation of palletized materials by water. With this initiative, VIM (Flemish Institute for Mobility) and the sector organizations Feproma and Fema, want to see whether the concept of regional water-distribution centers can offer a solution to the mobility problems experienced by the construction industry. During the project, six manufacturers will participate in 20 test runs. The first cargo was loaded on 13 December 2011.

With 7-8% of GDP, the construction sector is an important economic engine for Flanders and Belgium. We notice on our motorways: up to 25% of the freight traffic has to do with the building industry. Hilde Crevits, Flemish Minister for Public Works and Transportation: "Each year there are on the Belgian roads more than 60 million tons of palletized goods transported. In the segment of building materials alone there would be a real potential of 6 to 7 million tons of goods per year, qualifying for a modal shift from road to waterways. Soon there will be a governmental support to stimulate pallet transportation by inland waterways."

Model project

Throughout the duration of the project, Haven Genk and logistics service provider Despriet (Harelbeke) will make their waterfront sites, infrastructure and vehicles available. Six participating manufacturers - CBR Coeck, Eternit, Gyproc, Wienerberger and Xella - deliver their goods to the loading quay and then through the waterway to the depot of the intended area to be transported from where the customer the goods will bring to their final destination. Ship-it, Robema and JoGo Shipping will perform the test runs. Logistics consultancy Phidan supervise the whole operation. De Scheepvaart and Waterwegen & Zeekanaal are involved as strategic partners.