Quays, locks, dry docks, breakwaters.
If a continent rests on its coastline, we work where the rock meets the salt.
What this discipline covers.
Hextal has built and maintained port infrastructure since 1894, when Willem Hextal won his first quay wall contract in the port of Rotterdam. Today the Marine and Ports division operates across 38 active port projects from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, delivering container quays, cruise terminals, dry docks, lock gates, breakwaters and coastal defences.
The division operates the largest jack-up fleet in European civil marine, with six self-elevating platforms capable of operating in water depths up to 65 metres. Our teams have particular expertise in caisson construction, having cast and placed more than 400 reinforced concrete caissons across 30 years of continuous practice.
Port operations require a unique combination of marine engineering, structural engineering and logistics coordination. Hextal's marine teams work alongside active shipping operations, delivering new infrastructure without disrupting the cargo flows that keep supply chains moving.
Selected works.
How we approach this discipline.
Caisson fabrication
Reinforced concrete caissons are cast in our controlled yard environments and floated to site. Each unit is a precision-engineered structure weighing up to 14,000 tonnes.
Dredging and reclamation
Capital dredging, land reclamation and seabed preparation performed with our own plant. We manage sediment disposal in compliance with OSPAR and IMO conventions.
Live-port delivery
New infrastructure is built alongside active cargo operations. Our marine traffic management protocols ensure zero disruption to vessel movements and berthing schedules.
Fendering and equipment
Fender systems, bollards, crane rails and automation infrastructure are integrated into the structural design, not bolted on as an afterthought.
The people behind Marine & Ports.
Pieter de Vries
Pieter has spent his entire career at Hextal, starting as a dredging cadet in 1992. He now leads the marine division, responsible for 38 active port projects from Maasvlakte III to the Tangier Med expansion.
Our marine & ports team includes engineers, project managers, site supervisors and specialist consultants working across the full project lifecycle.
Other disciplines.
Bridges, tunnels, rail & highways.
From cable-stayed crossings to bored alpine tunnels — the load-bearing arteries of European movement.
Renewables, transmission, storage.
Offshore wind foundations, HVDC interconnectors, pumped storage, hydrogen-ready substations.
Hospitals, universities, transport hubs.
Buildings that must work for fifty years, twenty-four hours a day, with no acceptable failure mode.