Sweco Belgium
Project teams honoured with special award at Aquafin Awards
During the Aquafin Awards, Sweco joined Aquafin on stage for the presentation of the very first Ekiden Award. This award recognises the strong collaboration within the project teams responsible for the renovation of the inlet collectors to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of Ostend and Bruges. It is a special acknowledgement of the multidisciplinary approach, technical expertise and mutual trust between client, engineering consultant and contractor.
“The combination of high urgency, limited buffering capacity and an industrial area that had to remain fully operational made this project particularly challenging. Thanks to the open and smooth collaboration with Aquafin, Kumpen Willemen and the site supervisors, we were able to act quickly and consistently develop robust, well-supported solutions. This team dynamic was crucial to the success of the project.”
Tom Coudijzer, expert Hydraulic Infrastructure at Sweco
Alternative procurement strengthens collaboration
The Ekiden Award is a special award presented by Aquafin to project teams where an innovative way of working together makes a real difference. For large and complex projects, Aquafin adopts an adapted procurement approach, giving contractors more room within the negotiated procedure to help shape innovative solutions and the execution strategy.
This approach shifts the focus from strictly contractual working methods to trust, transparency and co-creation. The project teams involved in the renovation of the inlet collectors of WWTP Ostend and WWTP Bruges convincingly demonstrated that this procurement method also delivers tangible benefits in practice. Thanks to technical dialogue and close coordination, opportunities were fully leveraged and risks were efficiently managed.The award confirms that this form of collaboration leads to faster and better results, even for complex renovation projects, and highlights Sweco’s role as a proactive technical partner in a sector undergoing rapid transformation.
Renovation in a fully operational industrial zone
For Ostend, Sweco was responsible for the engineering and supervision of the renovation of the industrial inlet collector in Zandvoordestraat and Klokhofstraat. This collector is a critical sewer artery directly connected to the wastewater treatment plant and had been severely affected over the years by industrial wastewater.
The project area is located in the heart of an important industrial zone, where accessibility and operational continuity are essential. A conventional open cut approach was therefore not an option. In close consultation with Aquafin and contractor Kumpen Willemen, a fully trenchless renovation method was selected, ensuring that the area remained operational for the surrounding companies at all times.
Trenchless techniques for speed and durability
Given the high urgency of the renovation and the limited buffering capacity, fibre reinforced liners (TPUB) with vinyl ester resin were used, offering exceptional resistance to aggressive industrial wastewater. The manholes were also renovated trenchlessly using vertical liners and GRP cladding, while the number of intermediate manholes was reduced to a minimum.
During the works, wastewater was temporarily pumped through above ground pipelines, using smart portal structures and jumpers to guarantee access to the companies. Through traffic remained possible and disruption was kept to an absolute minimum.
50 years of additional service life, minimal disruption
In just nine months, approximately 2.6 kilometres of the inlet collector were renovated. This approach extended the service life of the infrastructure by at least 50 years, without the long term traffic disruption and operational impact that a traditional construction method would have caused.
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