Houses on water bricks from · 2020. 10. 30. · North Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020. About #IWTS 2.0 This case study has been prepared as part of the EU-funded project #IWTS 2.0

#IWTS 2.0 a project co-funded by the

North Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020.

#IWTS2.0: “Mobilizing small

waterway transport potentials”

Houses on water – bricks from

“road to waterway”

2

“#IWTS: Mobilising small waterway transport potentials”

https://northsearegion.eu/iwts20

Lay out cover by: Maritieme Akademie Harlingen. Photo: De Vlaamse Waterweg

This document is published within the #IWTS 2.0 project, an INTERREG Vb project of the North Sea Region as

one of the material for WP 5. See www.northsearegion.eu/iwts20 for more information.

Author

Dr. Lars Stemmler

bremenports GmbH & Co. KG


http://www.northsearegion.eu/iwts20

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Houses on water – bricks from

“road to waterway”

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Houses on water: how bricks on pallets got shifted from road to inland navigation – the case of

Wienerberger .................................................................................................................................................................. 4

The logistics dimension ............................................................................................................................................. 4

The policy dimension ................................................................................................................................................ 5

Review questions ............................................................................................................................................................ 6

About #IWTS 2.0 ............................................................................................................................................................. 7


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Houses on water: how bricks on pallets got shifted from road to inland

navigation – the case of Wienerberger

400 tons of facing bricks are moving silently by barge along the Kempen Canal and the

Brussel-Scheldt Waterway in Flanders, Belgium. This shipment is part of a longer, water-

borne supply chain of Wienerberger, a leading international supplier of building

materials. “With this amount of facing bricks you can build quiet a lot of houses”, the

skipper muses proudly. And proud he can be, given that those shipments have been

transferred from road to inland waterway since 2017.

The logistics dimension

Wienerberger successfully relieved roads from

congestion by moving approximately 100.000

tons of goods to waterway transportation. Two

vessels bring facing bricks on pallets from Beerse

to Bornem (see Chart 1) and filling grounds back

from Brussels to Beerse for the rehabilitation of

the quarry after the clay excavation used for the

production of the facing bricks. The company

deploys two dedicated Kempenaar-type of

vessels for this supply chain. The vessels move

50.000 tons of bricks and 50.000 tons of filling

grounds per year in either direction, whereby

going empty only for a small part that is from

Bornem to Brussels. Each vessel takes up to 400

ton of cargo, thereby replacing 16 trucks, in total

4.000 truck and 8.000 truck journeys per year.

The total environmental impacts of transport

over water is three times less than the impact of

trucks.

Figure 1: North-Eastern Flanders (source: openseamap.org;

bremenports)

Beerse

Brussels

Bornem


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Over a distance of 145 km Wienerberger shifted

approx. 100.000 tons of goods to inland

waterways. Thus, in the first year of this pilot

(2017), a total of 14.5 million ton-kilometers were

successfully moved by barge. For upcoming

years, some 100.000 tons per year are

forecasted.

The outbound and inbound legs of the supply

chain are carefully balanced:

The vessels deliver their loads two to

three times a week to

Bornem and Beerse,

respectively.

The bricks are

forwarded to the UK.

Wienerberger uses

short sea shipping for

this, another

environmentally

friendly transport

mode.

Almost all domestic

transports of Wienerberger

moved over roads up to a few

years ago. Around a given

year, the company typically

supplies approx. 1 million

tons of goods to its clients,

depending on the business cycle and

market. The customers either pick up

the goods on an “ex works” basis, or

receive deliveries from Wienerberger

directly to a given warehouse or

construction site.

Given the location of some of

Wienerberger´s factories and some

customers being located on or near

waterways, there was a reasonable

potential for modal shift (see Figure 2).

That is why Wienerberger has

contacted De Vlaamse Waterweg, the

Flemish waterway infrastructure

manager, and opted for an inland

shipping route Beerse-Bornem and then

onwards from Bornem by coaster to the

UK to effect deliveries for an UK-based

client. Wienerberger makes use of the dense

inland waterway network in Flanders (see Figure

3).

The policy dimension

Sand and construction material are by far the

most important goods on Flemish waterways (see

Chart 4). What makes this case so special is the

fact that the bricks are shipped as break bulk

cargoes on pallets with onward delivery by

coaster to the UK. The latter fact is perfectly in

Figure 2: System of inland waterways in Flanders. Source: https://inland-navigation-

market.org

Figure 3: Pallet handling out of inland barge (source: De Vlaamse

Waterweg)


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line with the political ambition of the EU to

shift cargoes from “road to sea” along so-

called European “Motorways of the Sea”

(see Box 1). Originally, build around short

sea shipping, the approach covers inland

shipping, rail as well as coastal shipping

across Europe. The Wienerberger case

shows an almost natural blending of

inland navigation into short sea shipping.

A good one, to ensure more houses on

water.

Review questions

1. Determine the success factors of

inland navigation for

Wienerberger.

2. Research a competing, road-only

supply chain for the export of

bricks to the UK and compare it

commercially and economically

to the chosen waterway

solution.

3. Research and discuss the concept

of the “Motorways of the Seas”. In

particular, highlight its application

in inland waterway transportation

by outlining its conceptual

elements.

Wienerberger is a leading international supplier of building materials and infrastructure

solutions with approx. 3.5 billion EUR in annual revenues (2019). As a global supplier of

building materials and infrastructure solutions, we produce high-quality bricks, pipe

systems and pavements. Wienerberger AG is publicly listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

There is no single, main shareholder, as all shares are free float shares. The majority of

shares are held by institutional investors, with less than 15% owned by private investors.

The company employs ca. 17,000 staff at more than 200 production sites across 30

countries, mainly in Europe.

https://www.wienerberger.com/en/about.html

Wienerberger at a glance

Box 1: “From road to sea”

The “Motorways of the Sea” concept aims to introduce

new intermodal maritime-based logistics chains in Europe, which should improve our transport organisation within the years to come. These chains will be more sustainable, and should be commercially more efficient than road-only transport. Motorways of the Sea will thus improve access to markets throughout Europe, and bring relief to our over-stretched European road system. For

this purpose, fuller use will have to be made not only of our maritime transport resources, but also of our potential in rail and inland waterways, as part of an integrated transport chain.

The EU introduced the concept with the 2001 Transport White Paper- European transport policy for 2010: time to decide. The European Commission proposed the development of “Motorways of the Sea” as a “real competitive alternative to land transport The White Paper also defined that the Motorways of the Sea should be part

of the trans-European network (TEN-T) and funds should be made available for its development.

Source and more info:

https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/maritime

/motorways_sea_en


https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/maritime/motor

ways_sea_en


https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/maritime/motor

ways_sea_en


#IWTS 2.0 a project co-funded by the

North Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020.

About #IWTS 2.0

This case study has been prepared as part of the EU-funded project #IWTS 2.0. IWTS stands for Inland

Waterway Transportation System. This project includes ten partners in the North Sea Region with one goal:

mobilising inland waterway solutions. Solutions include infrastructure upgrades of waterways, new vessel

concepts and innovative business models. bremenports GmbH & Co. KG, the infrastructure manager of the

Ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven, is the German partner in #IWTS 2.0.

For more information see here: https://northsearegion.eu/iwts20

bremenports GmbH & Co. KG are the public

infrastructure managers of the Ports of

Bremen and Bremerhaven.

With 400 staff, we ensure port availability on

365 days a year, 24/7. Further, we develop the

ports to meet future needs, balancing

ecological, economic and social requirements.

Our role in #IWTS 2.0 is to bring inland

shipping onto the mental radarscreens of

students and logistics decision makers.

https://www.bremenports.de

bremenports GmbH & Co. KG at a glance

Bremen

Bremerhaven


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Documents

Houses on water bricks from · 2020. 10. 30. · North Sea Region Programme 2014 - 2020. About #IWTS 2.0 This case study has been prepared as part of the EU-funded project #IWTS 2.0