Dutch companies to dredge up 160ha island in Jakarta Bay

A joint venture between Dutch companies Van Oord and Royal Boskalis Westminster has been chosen to for a $400m contract to construct an artificial island off the coast of Jakarta in Indonesia. Work is to commence immediately, and when complete in 2018, the island will host a residential and commercial project called Pluit City.  

Van Oord, an offshore contractor that specialises in dredging, said it planned to reclaim 160ha of land using 20 million cubic metres of dredged sand.  

The client for the project is PT Muara Wisesa Samudra, an Indonesian property developer. Its parent company, Agung Podomoro Land, announced last month that it would increase its capital expenditure for 2015 to $470m, up 20% from the previous year. 

The work will be carried out by two giant trailing suction hopper dredgers (pictured). Soil improvement and rock revetment works also form part of the project.  

The masterplan for Pluit city was drawn up by US architect and urban designer SOM; the landscape design will carried out by Martha Schwartz Partners (MSP). According to MSP, the city will be able to accommodate 70,000 residents and will include a shopping plaza, office towers, apartment blocks, beach houses and a 90,000 square metre "Central Park".  

MSP said: "About 5% of the island will be occupied by water bodies to hold and purify storm and grey water and recycle it back into the community. This amenity plays a unique element in the design of the Central Park and how the landscape is intertwined among canals, wetlands and water play areas."

The two trailing suction hopper dredgers (Van Oord)

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, has a population of more than 10 million, and the poor quality of its infrastructure led it to be ranked bottom of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2015 Safe Cities Index. One of the main strategies for dealing with population growth is to build districts on reclaimed land. 

More generally, Jakarta’s city authorities and the federal government of Indonesia are implementing a $40bn National Capital Integrated Coastal Development masterplan, better known as the Giant Sea Wall, located in the bay north of Jakarta where Pluit City is to go. This scheme is being undertaken by  a consortium headed by consulting engineers Witteveen + Bos and Grontmij. 

A Van Oord and Boskalis consortium recently won a $1.5bn contract to expand the Suez Canal. 

Photographs:  

Top: Artist’s impression of the artificial island (Van Oord) 

Middle: The two trailing suction hopper dredgers (Van Oord)