construction

Economic growth in the Netherlands dropped considerably in the third quarter. Compared to the second quarter, the economy grew by only 0.2 percent between start July and end September - the lowest quarterly growth in the past two years, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

Of the workers who left the construction sector after the economic crisis in 2008, only 15 percent returned to the sector before 2017, Statistics Netherlands reported on Thursday. Many found work in another industry. Another part retired or passed away in the meantime. 

Staff shortages increased significantly in construction over the past years. In addition to material shortage, the need for construction workers is seen as the main obstacle to growth in the sector, according to the stats office.

A massive amount of ammunition from the Second World War was found during construction work at a former primary school in Zwolle. The find included six boxes with around 10 thousand bullets and igniters for mines and hand grenades, NOS reports.

Construction workers discovered the ammunition while working on the sewer last week and called in Defense's explosive experts. The explosive experts called it a rare find. "It concerns French bullets of 8 millimeters that are still in their original packaging. The string of the packaging is even still around it."

The Dutch government wants to start building new houses without a connection to the gas network starting this year.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, already agreed that new homes should not be connected to the gas network. But the government thinks that this can be started sooner than the four years planned. On Thursday the coalition wants to arrange that average new homes are built without this connection, RTL Nieuws reports.

There is a rapidly increasing shortage in construction staff in the Netherlands, according to benefits agency UWV. There is a major need for carpenters, masons and installation engineers, as well as many vacancies for preparatory construction staff like jop preparers, ANP reports.

By next year the UWV expects an increase of 30 thousand jobs for construction workers. An increase of another 4 thousand jobs is also expected for freelancers.

Amsterdam is increasingly working towards a zero-waste lifestyle, or so-called circular economy. The city is presenting 23 projects aimed towards this goal. "Amsterdam will be the first city in the world to prove that a circular economy is possible and profitable", the city said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Road traffic on the A15 near Rotterdam and shipping traffic on the Oude Maas will be hindered by work on the Nieuwe Botlek bridge this weekend. Workers will be doing complex restorations to the bridge that will take the entire weekend

A pedestrian was killed by falling scaffolding in the center of The Hague on Thursday morning. The scaffolding fell from the former Ministry of Housing building, which is being renovated and hit the pedestrian who was walking past the building on Rijnstraat.

The remnants of a 17th century Jewish ghetto was unearthed during excavations in Amsterdam earlier this month. The discovery was made by a construction crew digging a foundation for a housing complex and hotel on Valkenburgerstraat, just north of an Esnoga.

A spirit of celebration was on display at the newly-completed Den Haag Centraal train station on Monday. The station, capable of handling 270,000 passengers daily, officially re-opened after several years of construction work.

The two parties in the ruling coalition agreed to shut down the Binnenhof parliament complex for over five years in order to conduct a complete overhaul of the buildings there. The renovations of the buildings, including the 13th century Ridderzaal, is expected to cost between 500 and 600 million euros.