5 gigantically out of control construction projects

Ideally, of course, we would like every construction project to stay neatly within budget, to be completed neatly on time and for all work to proceed as planned. Unfortunately, practice is more obstinate. Sometimes things go wrong and occasionally a lot goes wrong. We look at five construction projects that have gotten pretty out of hand.

Renovation of the Inner Court

Immediately after the users left the Binnenhof in the summer of 2021, it became clear that the renovation costs would be considerably higher. Where initially a cost of 475 million euros was taken into account, the project was suddenly estimated at 718.9 million euros and not much later this was further increased to 749 million. Meanwhile, in April 2024, the renovation costs come to a shocking two billion euros. Roughly four times higher than estimated at the start. And to think that a special choice was made for a cheap and quick renovation.

We limit ourselves to a few main reasons. For one, an investigation revealed that there is much more asbestos and bad ceilings in the 800-year-old complex than was estimated earlier 2015. Furthermore, there are pipes and cables in many places that no one yet knows what they are for, and the many holes drilled for this purpose have weakened the structure. Monumental staircases have become unstable and unusable and the roof of the First Chamber even turned out to be loose. In addition, all kinds of extra security measures have to be taken because of the increased threat in the Netherlands. The renovation is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. It remains uncertain whether that will be achieved and at what cost.

IJmuiden sea lock

In IJmuiden you will find the largest sea lock in the world, Zeesluis IJmuiden. This new lock is so big that you seem to be able to see it even from space. Construction began in 2016 and the opening was in early 2022, although it was originally planned for 2019. The new lock was built between the locks already in place and is due to replace the Noordersluis in 2029, which will be written off that year.

Right from the opening, there were serious doubts as to whether a sea lock of this size is actually so necessary. After all, the large container ships mainly sail to the port of Rotterdam, and cruise ships are increasingly being kept out of Amsterdam. In addition, container ships have grown considerably in the meantime, so they do not even fit into the new sea lock. Furthermore, thanks to energy transition, fossil fuel transshipments have declined substantially, whereas they were expected to grow significantly. A new lock the size of the current Noordersluis would therefore have sufficed, according to many.

Parking garage in Kampen

That it is wise to take plenty of time on complex construction projects was demonstrated during the construction of the Buitenhaven parking garage in Kampen. Shortly after the start of the construction project, pile drivers fell ill, and the work was halted for more than a year. The cause was blamed on soil contamination. After a construction halt of more than a year, the costs turned out to be considerably higher and in the end the construction became even 2.5 million euros more expensive than originally planned.

Unfortunately, even when the parking garage was completed a year and a half later than planned, the problems did not appear to be over. The garage turned out to be leaking. The joints between the concrete slabs of the upper deck were loosening, allowing rainwater to enter the garage. Remarkably, this shortcoming was repaired with a coating that had previously been cut from the construction specifications. Later investigations revealed unrealistic time constraints during the construction project.

Dordthuis in Dordrecht

A construction project in Dordrecht is also experiencing setbacks. Work has been halted twice. It concerns the construction of the Dordthuis, which is to become the new home of the municipality, social services and the library, among others.

Just two weeks after construction began in October 2023, soil contamination was discovered during drilling for foundation piles. Deep in the ground, oil was found to be present. Work was then temporarily halted. Shortly after in November, things went wrong again. This time two workers inhaled the highly toxic and harmful prussic acid gas, whereupon they became unwell, with symptoms such as dizziness, vertigo and watery eyes. This happened during excavation work. All earth-moving activities were halted, but other work could continue.

Between these two incidents, just as construction work had resumed after the unexpected and unwanted "oil drilling," local residents were suddenly confronted with cracks in their homes. This was two weeks before the prussic acid gas was released. For now, the completion of the Dordthuis is scheduled for the summer of 2025, and that is without compensation for the delay that has now occurred.

The Open Window Elementary School

The new building plans for this elementary school in Rotterdam-Lombardijen date back to 2007, although actual construction of this experimental wooden school building did not begin until 2013. Unfortunately, the municipality was forced to halt construction in 2016, just a few months before completion. This was due to problems with walls, window frames and floors. The municipality chose to completely demolish the three-story wooden structure, this because repairs were unfeasible according to research. A noose of no less than six million euros.

Another contractor to rebuild the school, the original contractors had since gone bankrupt, could not be found. It was finally decided to change to a completely different design and thus to abandon the experimental timber construction completely. This also meant that the concrete substructure had to be demolished. In short, completely back to square one. As a result, the damage suddenly amounted to a sloppy 15 million. A new contractor was found and now the new school is in use, no less than ten years later than planned.