Double interview with Dominic De Prins, Project Manager in Ecuador, and Mathias Van De Vijver, Financial Manager.

What in essence is a dredging concession and what type of concessions exist?

Dominic De Prins: "Broadly speaking, it comes down to making and keeping a canal or river navigable. We do the first by deepening the waterway, and the second by keeping a vessel there for long-term maintenance works. Various financing arrangements are possible."

Mathias Van De Vijver: "For some projects, Jan De Nul takes on the financing. The costs for deepening the waterway and maintaining its depth are then repaid with toll fees. Each ship passing through the waterway; for instance, has to pay an amount that depends on the size of the ship. Alternatively, the awarding authority may reimburse us by way of fixed, periodic payments. But intermediate forms, with a combination of fixed payments and toll fees, are also possible."

What advantages does this offer for your clients, and for Jan De Nul itself?

Mathias: "For clients, we offer a long-term solution, without them having to fully finance the works themselves. In this way, governments with a limited budget can still meet the expectations of their population and give the local or national economy a major boost."

Dominic: "For us, it means giving one or more vessels a fixed base of operations over a long period of time. Their first and foremost priority, obviously, will always be the concession assignment, but there can possibly be interim periods working on neighbouring projects. This is interesting for us, as it significantly decreases our mobilisation and demobilisation costs while giving us more visibility in the region."

So what is the other side of the coin?

Mathias: "In a concession formula with toll fees only in return for full financing, there are a lot of risks to factor in. For one thing, we must not only calculate the costs for capital and maintenance dredging works, but also estimate the expected ship traffic during the concession period and the resulting revenues. In some countries, there are also political risks and legal uncertainty to consider. And finally, tender costs are also higher due to the more complex contractual set-up."

Do you usually push for concession agreements yourselves for certain projects?

Dominic: “Yes, we do. In countries with a proper legal framework, we may sometimes take the initiative and submit a proposal ourselves. The first step is then to carry out a pre-feasibility study, which the public authority concerned may or may not approve. If approved, we will carry out a more elaborate feasibility study, paid by the relevant public authority. If that also passes the evaluation, this will lead to a public tender in which various parties may participate, including direct competitors."

Mathias: "An important consideration here is that the party that originally took the initiative has an advantage in the concession tender. They know the risks and opportunities inside out, and have a price advantage in the evaluation procedure. We have already won some great projects through this method."

What other assets can you bring to the table in tenders for dredging concessions?

Mathias: "Thanks to our extensive dredging fleet and experienced teams, we have sufficient resources to invest in a long-term concession project. In addition, our financial health inspires confidence and over the years, we have built up a strong track record when it comes to dredging concessions. That experience also appeals to clients."

In total, four medium-sized trailing suction hopper dredgers and the cutter suction dredger Ibn Battuta removed about 25 million cubic metres of sediment, as well as hard rock formations. Thanks to the deepened maritime access channel, the port of Guayaquil could welcome a Neo-Panamax vessel for the first time in 2019: the APL Esplanade with a cargo of 14,000 TEU. A historic milestone for the country!

Fluent tolling

Meanwhile, the 25-year maintenance agreement is running as planned. In exchange for guaranteeing its depth, we levy toll fees on all vessels using the access channel. The rate is determined by the gross tonnage of the vessels. The larger the vessel, the higher the fee. Whether or not the vessel is fully loaded does not matter in this regard.

As icing on the cake, we will also install a VTS or Vessel Traffic Service system, that is handed over to the port authorities at the end of the contract term. Such a VTS is similar to a control tower at airports, but then for shipping traffic. This state-of-the-art system will make the management and control of shipping traffic more efficient and safer.

Fluvial canal completed in 2022

Geographically, the project in Guayaquil consists of two waterways: the maritime access channel to the ports in the south of Guayaquil on the one hand, and the fluvial canal, or Guayas River, which provides access to the fluvial port terminals in the southeast of the city, on the other. In January 2022, we also completed the capital dredging works in that fluvial canal in Guayaquil so that ships with a draught of up to 7.5m can now be welcomed. These will be mostly bulk ships, and not container ships, but this intervention too is breathing new life into the local economy.

Double interview with John Van Vooren, Head of the Buildings Department, and Nelson Moors, Buildings Production Manager

The more challenging, the higher the added value

For what type of civil engineering projects is Jan De Nul the ideal partner?

John Van Vooren: "We excel especially in large, rather complex construction and infrastructure projects. These often involve challenges in terms of energy, financing, design, sustainability, safety and maintenance, to name but a few. That is exactly where the experience and expertise of our teams come into play, seasoned as they are in finding creative solutions. Give our engineers a white sheet and the rest will follow."

Nelson Moors: "And we can also do it all by ourselves, from start to finish. Design, remediation, construction, financing, maintenance, energy management... We have a specialist in-house team for each phase. Think of the foundation expertise of our subsidiary Soetaert or the soil expertise of our environment department Envisan. To make it more concrete: we can completely transform a heavily contaminated site into a sustainable, low-energy project within a relatively short period of time."

Do you also explicitly seek out those large all-in projects?

Nelson: "In a way, yes. As an individual, people usually grow faster by executing smaller projects, but to move forward as an organisation, it's better to push one’s boundaries with larger projects. Today, for instance, we are building a prison for the first time, as well as air bases for F-35 aeroplanes – things we weren't yet ready for five years ago. The fact that we are now is because as a team we have worked towards it step by step by deliberately expanding our comfort zone."

John: "Being proficient in several fields also inspires confidence among clients, one of the many reasons why our civil activities are still on the rise. We are known as reliable doers. However vague that may sound, at the end of the day that is often what matters to clients. Construction has become more versatile, with several boxes that must be ticked: from fire safety and EPB requirements to modularity. Both private and public parties therefore want to outsource the whole package to one contractor, and we can offer that."

Surfing along on the latest construction trends

The construction industry is facing increasing pressure. How are you handling the shortage of suitable workers in the labour market?

John: "We are fortunate that, as an established player, we can still count on an extensive team. Moreover, people stay with Jan De Nul for a long time, keeping expertise largely in-house. However, we cannot deny that we too have many vacancies. We must find solutions for this without compromising on the quality or speed of projects."

Nelson: "This means, for instance, that we are looking more and more towards modular and prefabricated systems. Digitalisation and robotics are also playing an increasingly important role. For instance, masonry robots can partly compensate for the shortage of bricklayers and we are relying even more than ever on techniques such as BIM modelling to make construction sites as efficient as possible. In short, we keep a close eye on the market and maintain our position at the forefront of the civil construction industry with targeted investments."

Are there any other trends that you are helping to shape?

Nelson: "It is no secret that sustainability and energy are two top priorities for any new project. Obviously, we closely monitor those areas to find the right match for each project. This includes next-gen solar panels for green energy, heat recovery from sewage water, blue-green roofs for a cooling effect, heat-as-a-service to reduce investments, etc."

John: "In doing so, we are also mindful of the surrounding area. For instance, how can we use residual heat from a nearby company or share our power and heat surpluses with local residents?  With the construction of our new office buildings in Aalst, we’re already targeting more than just our own consumption with an extensive solar panel farm."

Finally, which three words could sum up best Jan De Nul's strength as a civil contractor?

John: "Sustainable, high-quality and creative. But those three words are backed by a number of preconditions that make such a combination possible, such as our financial stability and a multidisciplinary team."

Nelson: "Let me add customer satisfaction to that. We always do what we promise. It is no coincidence that in most cases clients come to us, and not the other way around."

6 Projects in the picture

Prison in Antwerp

School in Anderlecht

For the construction of two school buildings, each with its own sports infrastructure, and an accompanying refectory, we are using various construction methods and materials. For instance, the school buildings mainly consist of a precast concrete structure with prefabricated floors. In turn, the refectory is built in a timber structure with laminated elements. This is an all-in turnkey project, where our expertise in overall project coordination comes in handy.

Air bases in Florennes and Kleine Brogel

In 2025, Belgian Defence expects a first delivery of brand new F-35A fighter jets. Accommodated in two identical, functional air bases. An important consideration for this project was minimising the carbon footprint, both in the design of the bases and during their construction. For instance, the buildings will be 100% sustainably heated and cooled. Solar panels will provide electricity. Jan De Nul will also be responsible for the maintenance of both air bases until 2037.

Own office building in Aalst

In Aalst, we are developing our own new office site. An important part of this is a completely new building with 10,000 m² of office space spread over seven aboveground levels. Targeted design choices ensure that the building fits in perfectly with its surroundings. Think of the 45° rule, which makes the building look less tall and reduces cast shadow. Sustainable techniques such as blue-green roofs, an underground Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) system and solar panels on the roof underline our ambition to build with respect for the future.a

This article is an extract from our 2022 Annual Report.