In the morning, the participants will visit the site of the major underground construction project – “Rotterdamsebaan”. The area around the city of The Hague has been intensely urbanised since World War II.

To mitigate the traffic congestion problem and increase the accessibility a major drilled tunnel was planned. By November 2016 the spectacular building site - 250 m long and 18 m deep - was constructed. The drilling machine Catharina-Amalia, named after the Dutch Princess, was assembled here. The underground part of the Rotterdamsebaan is 1860 m long.

During the construction process different relevant factors related to subsurface heterogeneity and properties were considered.  Interesting archaeological objects were discovered during the execution of this project.

Catarina-Amalia broke all records in terms of drilling speed. In this guided field trip, the participants will be welcomed at the project site and they have the opportunity to walk around and get detailed information regarding subsurface related challenges and the found solutions. This trip will be partly sponsored by the city of the Hague.

Fig. 1 Rotterdamsebaan

After the lunch break, in the afternoon, the participants will be transported to the impressive Open Innovation Centre for Well Technology, which is located in Rijswijk. With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the province of South Holland, the municipality of Rijswijk, EBN TNO, and in cooperation with academia (Delft and Utrecht universities), the Well Laboratory of Shell is reopened as Open Innovation Centre for Well Technology (OICW). 

The main focus here is to reduce the total cost of ownership of wells for the economic success of geo-energy applications in general and geothermal in particular. It further addresses the safety of subsurface activities and the societal acceptance of these activities. OICW has started its first projects since early 2019. The unique size of this infrastructure can facilitate full-scale technology and product development, and qualification prior to field implementation. Participants will have a guided tour offered by TNO in this spectacular research facility.

Preliminary Schedule:

Last chance to register for this field trip is Wednesday 11 September, at the Registration Desk.