Issuu

Creating the Cities of Tomorrow

Creating the Cities of Tomorrow APK Group is spearheading an exciting wave of stateof-the-art infrastructure development across Europe. We speak to co-Owner and executive board member, Ward Kerkhofs, about strengthening the ‘veins of society’ and building nextgeneration smart cities Writer: Ed Budds Project Manager: James Melton

owadays, infrastructure is the prime tool used to tackle the various challenges of the 21st century, such as digitisation, the ongoing energy transition, and dealing with the increasing prominence of climate change. Undoubtedly, its importance across myriad industries cannot be understated. Making waves across Europe, APK Group (APK) has grown significantly since its founding in 1960 into a multidisciplinary group and wellrespected titan of the infrastructure industry. 2 | EME Outlook Issue 73

APK GROUP CONSTRUCTION

EME Outlook Issue 73 | 3

APK GROUP CONSTRUCTION

TELL US ABOUT THE FLEXIBILITY APK HAS DEVELOPED WHEN ADAPTING TO CLIENT NEEDS? Ward Kerkhofs, co-Owner: “Across the entire APK group, over time, we have seen clients consolidate, meaning they have become larger and have created their own communities. At the same time, they have also become more demanding in terms of how professionally contractors can plan, manage, and follow up on job sites. “Our very slim organisational structure allows us to quickly adapt to any client needs. We are very flexible, hence our many sites, which helps us avoid slow decision-making and ‘ivory tower syndrome’. “We are still as flexible and adaptive as we have always been, which is something clients continue to value. However, behind the scenes, we have also professionalised the business so we can control and monitor the entire process much more effectively. “That development has been taking place over the past 10 to 20 years, and it is a positive evolution because our clients’ projects have also become much larger. “Where a client may once have been managing 100 km of infrastructure, they may now be responsible for constructing and afterwards maintaining 800 km. To support that level of growth and complexity, you need different tools, stronger processes, and contractors who are able to follow-up properly.”

4 | EME Outlook Issue 73

The company specialises in a wide range of infrastructure works for water pipelines and installations, energy grids, telecommunications (telecom) networks, and road construction. In addition, skills in environmental and landscape architecture, trenchless techniques, civil engineering, and recycling have provided the group with added value. Thanks to its gradual expansion and various smart acquisitions, APK is active today in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg.

“APK connects people, businesses, and governments – we install smart and sustainable infrastructure for underground and above-ground construction with the aim of making cities future-proof, safe, and accessible,” introduces co-Owner and executive board member, Ward Kerkhofs. The company is based in the Blue Banana region of Europe, centred around the intersection of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany – it currently employs around 2,700 staff and generates an annual turnover of approximately €600 million.

APK GROUP CONSTRUCTION

Half the group specialises in installation and maintenance field services, whilst the other half focuses on cables and ducts, trenchless techniques, and road construction. “We believe strongly in having sites that are close to both our customers and our employees, and we now have more than 60 sites spread across an area of around 70,000 square kilometres,” he states. Today, the company’s client base mainly consists of operators and owners managing widely dispersed assets, particularly across energy, water, telecoms, mobility, and landscaping.

NAVIGATING THE MARKET Across Europe, there are two major trends which continue to have a prominent influence on the infrastructure industry today, both of which are technical but environmentally driven. “The first relates to machinery – there is a great deal of discussion around electric machinery, zeroemission working practices, and similar developments, although this is partly being driven by legislation,” Kerkhofs sets out. “This can be challenging, because contractors may be required to

purchase electric machines even when they are not yet the most efficient option for a particular job.” For example, in horizontal directional drilling, companies can use either a conventional dieselpowered drilling rig or an electric rig. However, waiting times for electric rigs have increased drastically because demand is so high. In some cases, waiting for an electric machine can create more emissions overall than completing the project quickly with conventional equipment, especially when the project itself will ultimately quickly deliver long-term emissions savings. “This is one area where legislation can create uncertainty and a kind of bullwhip effect in the market,” he surmises. The second major trend relates to water use – many of APK’s techniques involve significant amounts of water, whether for soil excavation, drilling fluids, or other site processes. EME Outlook Issue 73 | 5

APK GROUP CONSTRUCTION

“Innovation in this area is helping to reduce water consumption, which means using less water at the start of the process and producing less waste at the end. That is a win for the environment, technology, and construction site.” The ability to recycle and reuse working water is therefore becoming an important trend for businesses such as APK, and it is one that will continue to be supported by ongoing technological development. This is in addition to the household recycling businesses of APK, which focus on reusing excavated soils and processing construction and demolition waste into aggregates for reuse as raw material or in concrete. The business believes that in this way, it’s all about closing the circle.

HOUSEHOLD NAME With a vast and invigorating portfolio of projects in development, one clear priority for APK is its focus on the 6 | EME Outlook Issue 73

“As a Belgium-based company working across Europe, it is always special to set a record in our home country” – WA R D K E R K H O F S , C O - O W N E R , APK GROUP

Netherlands. “Last year, there was a major tendering procedure there, which takes place roughly every eight to 10 years and leads to very long-term contracts. We were able to secure a number of those, which gives us a challenging but exciting growth path in the Netherlands,” Kerkhofs excites. “This specific geography is also interesting because the market is strong at shifting more of the design responsibility towards contractors. People often talk about design and build, or design, build, finance,

maintain (DBFM), and other similar concepts, but the Dutch are very good at applying those models on a large scale,” he explains. This can lead to much faster delivery and a much higher pace of construction for projects. “Meanwhile, in other countries, including Belgium and Germany, projects often move much more slowly and can take many years before they are realised. The lessons we learn in the Netherlands may eventually become best practice for everyone.” Kerkhofs believes APK is operating in and expanding a very exciting space, especially the Blue Banana region. Being so densely populated, this is an area where many different types of infrastructure intersect, creating both complexity and opportunity. Moreover, the ongoing energy transition and need for additional grid capacity have really ramped up activity across the entire industry. At the same time, challenges

APK GROUP CONSTRUCTION

around maintaining groundwater levels, preserving freshwater reserves, and dealing with extreme rainfall and drought are keeping everyone busy. “Hydrogen and CO2 pipelines have faced some difficulties and delays, but they will eventually become a reality. However, the changing attitude of governments has sometimes created bullwhip-like movements in the market – something we aim to avoid in the future,” Kerkhofs adds.

TUNNELLING TO SUCCESS One of the company’s most exciting and ambitious projects to date, last year, APK completed the largest microtunnel in Belgium beneath the Scheldt River in Antwerp. “As a Belgium-based company working across Europe, it is always special to set a record in our home country,” Kerkhofs prides. The tunnel has an inner diameter of three metres and a total length of approximately 1.5 kilometres (km),

built to serve a wide range of utilities. Most importantly, it transports steam generated from a waste-toheat plant on one side of the river to the chemical industrial cluster on the opposite bank. This delivers significant emissions savings whilst also providing an energy supply that is independent from geopolitical instability. “With this tunnel, we crossed not only the naval entrance to the Port of Antwerp, but also dozens of chemical pipelines, a nuclear emergency highvoltage grid line, multiple railways, and a busy industrial highway carrying heavy traffic,” he details. “It was a highly complex project involving many stakeholders, but we completed the work on time and to the highest quality standards.” Because it is such a specialised niche, the microtunnelling side of APK’s business provides a strong gateway into new locations such as Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Morocco, and

Scandinavia. Many of these fresh markets are also seeing growing demand for infrastructure, which creates clear opportunities for the company. “However, developing those markets takes time. Travelling around may sound romantic, but a great deal of time and effort goes into visiting potential markets and building key relationships,” Kerkhofs clarifies. “We already have the contacts, technology, and people in place – all the vital ingredients are there. Now, it is about bringing everything together and getting things moving towards an exciting future for the group,” he enthusiastically concludes.

apkgroup.eu EME Outlook Issue 73 | 7

apkgroup.eu

PRODUCED BY EME OUTLOOK MAGAZINE