Safety first

Van Schie is one of the few in the Netherlands that can quickly make these approved pontoon formations for equipment available to third parties and can also provide all necessary certificates, calculations and documentations.

Compositions of linkable pontoons are subject to the laws and regulations for inland navigation. Like barges, they must be inspected, certified and registered in conjunction with the machinery on them. They will have a mark and a registration number that must be visibly attached to the pontoon, just like a license plate on a car.

The inspection includes an inspection of the hull (of individual pontoons), skin thickness and plating. Fences are also being scrutinized. In addition, stability and strength calculations are performed and the condition of the coupling device is examined.

All under the auspices of a recognized certification agency. That agency also checks that all safety equipment is on board, including life buoys, life jackets, fire extinguishers, a first aid kit and any navigation lights.

And once the certificate has been issued, it is the Inspectorate for the Environment and Transport (ILT), the Department of Public Works, the provinces and municipalities that enforce the rules.

Different machine, different certificate

The vessel type “coupling pontoon” does not exist within the Shipping Code. As a result, it is not so easy to certify an assembly of coupling pontoons. If an assembly of pontoons is to be certified, each new formation is a “new ship” and must be recertified again and again.

In doing so, each pontoon (they have a unique hull number) must also be in its respective formation, so no pontoons may be exchanged. And to top it off, the CoA must also specify the machine (make, type, etc.) for which the pontoon is certified. It should come as no surprise that applying for certification with associated inspections takes time and money.

Example 1

This pontoon configuration was used for bank works in the Hoofdvaart canal, near the runways of Schiphol Airport.

Among other things, a light pole was placed here (on which the guidance lights have yet to be installed) for the approach route of the Zwanenburg runway. The license plate is visibly affixed to the pontoon.

Example 2

Pontoon with aerial platform deployed during the renovation and major maintenance of the Piet Hein Tunnel, a tunnel connecting the center of Amsterdam with Zeeburgereiland. The pontoon here is against the tunnel building, say the “engine room” from which the tunnel is operated and monitored.

The technical systems here needed to be replaced and the building needed new heat-resistant cladding.

Example 3

This pontoon configuration is certified in conjunction with a sounding system for water bottom investigations. Probing techniques are used to map soil properties.

This is needed, for example, in foundations, excavations and sand extraction. This involves determining the bearing capacity of the subsurface as well as the overall soil conditions.