It was only late in the project that the province decided to replace the communication backbone as well. This backbone connects Koningspoort and other control centres with the remote control systems, video cameras and other applications that enable remote bridge operation. ICT Group's Managed Services business unit managed to realize a solution under great time pressure.
Frans van der Linden, project leader at the Province of South Holland, says: "We realized in October 2024 that we would have a problem connecting Koningspoort to the communication backbone that connects all bridges, locks and control centers in the province. This backbone had been in use since 2008 and the equipment was nearing the end of its lifespan. Yet that was not the biggest problem. The urgency arose when we discovered that the configuration of the backbone no longer corresponded to the design described in the blueprint . Over time, contamination had arisen in the configurations, meaning we could not guarantee a proper integration of Koningspoort."
Great time pressure
The moment this problem became fully apparent, the province was faced with a challenge of finding a supplier capable of completing such a large an complex task in just a few weeks? Van der Linden asked Sebastiaan Koning, who once made the first design of the communication backbone and now works as a cybersecurity specialist at ICT Group. The Managed Services business unit quickly deployed a team to support the province with this challenge.
Replacement of fiber optic network
Sebastiaan explains: "The communication network is the backbone for remote operation of bridges and locks; The continuity, reliability and safety of the operation depend on it. The first generation of network equipment had been in use since 2008, so updating this infrastructure was a necessity."
In addition to replacing outdated equipment, a key goal was to create a predictable environment that gives reproducible results. This was not the case with the old network because in the configurations were modified over the years. These were modifications that may have worked out well at a local level, but didn’t take the entire chain into account. Moreover, those modifications were not well documented. "This a introduces risk because you cannot trust the outcome of certain actions", Frans says.
Four parallel sub-projects
ICT Group delivered a exceptional performance by replacing the communication backbone in just three weeks. But this was just one of four parallel tracks that were running simultaneously and affecting each other because the province was also busy with the Koningspoort project. Whereas initially it was thought that only this new control centre needed to be connected to the communications backbone, now the entire communications backbone had to be migrated. The project that was divided into 'Island West’ and ‘Island East’. Designing and testing took place more or less simultaneously. And then there also was maintenance on the network of all bridges. Sebastiaan: "Normally, you would prefer to take on these four projects sequentially and plan it over a timespan of several months; Now we only had a few weeks for all the preparatory work."
Coupling Koningspoort
Even before Christmas, everything was in place to migrate the 'Island West' project in January. This part of the project includes three control centres and more than 60 bridges. After that, 'Island East' also had to be migrated, followed by the implementation of Koningspoort. This involved some additional challenges, says Sebastiaan. "Koningspoort is a brand new control center using more modern hardware. It uses a different configuration that must be compatible with the rest of the environment. We mitigated this risk by replaced the entire communication backbone and using the same configurations everywhere. If the province had not decided to replace the communication backbone, they would undoubtedly have run into problems."
After the migration of ‘Island West’, the operation of bridges of this area takes place from the control centres Koningspoort and Steekterpoort. This is an important step in the centralization and modernization of the operation.
Maintenance and management
Given the satisfaction of the province of South Holland with the project approach and completion, it was obvious to also grant the daily maintenance and management of the network to ICT Group. This means that ICT Group must be able to be on site 24x7 within four hours to solve a malfunction. For this purpose, a dedicated service team has been trained with in-depth knowledge of the network to ensure fast and effective recovery.
Frans: "There are not many parties that can provide such services at this level. Because they work with a blueprint, it is always clear to everyone how hardware and software work together and how the network is configured."
Respond quickly to an incident
Sebastiaan talks about the need for a blueprint: " You need to prepare for a situation where something doesn't go as expected. This could be a deliberate attack on the infrastructure, or it could be an incident created by another disruption If something happens, you want to have insight into the entire chain, including the relationship with all subsystems connected to the network. Only then can you quickly find the root-cause and restore the situation."
Frans knows how important that is. "During meetings of government leaders, such as recently at the NATO summit in The Hague, it is essential that we can guarantee the reliability and continuity of the physical infrastructure. The network infrastructure - the communication backbone - plays a crucial role. It is reassuring to know that we are now well prepared.
