Dutch Infrastructure Faces €50 Billion Maintenance Crisis

The Netherlands is facing a massive infrastructure maintenance crisis, with over €50 billion in overdue work needed to keep roads, waterways, and railways safe and reliable in the coming decades. Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail, the two organisations responsible for managing the country's transportation networks, are sounding urgent alarms about the growing backlog.

According to figures reported in regional press, the maintenance backlog for Rijkswaterstaat alone stands at approximately €34.5 billion. When combined with ProRail's remaining backlog for the rail network, the total exceeds €50 billion: an unprecedented figure that highlights decades of deferred maintenance coming due at once.

In their latest annual reports, both organisations warn that Dutch infrastructure "has never been under such heavy pressure" and that the scale of the maintenance challenge is greater than anything faced before. The issue isn't just the total amount needed, but the fact that so many critical structures require major work simultaneously.

Many of the Netherlands' bridges, tunnels, viaducts, and sluices were built during the 1950s and 1960s, a period of major infrastructure expansion following World War II. These structures are now reaching or passing the end of their design life, the period they were originally engineered to last.

Making matters worse, traffic patterns have changed dramatically since these structures were built. Today's infrastructure faces:

Rijkswaterstaat director-general Martin Wijnen told RTL Nieuws that in some locations, the network is being "kept in the air with makeshift solutions." He pointed to the almost 90-year-old bridge over the A44, nicknamed De Walvis (The Whale), where wooden blocks and temporary support structures are needed just to keep the bridge strong enough for current traffic.

ProRail CEO John Voppen says the rail network faces similar pressure. Without significantly more funding for renewal and replacement, he warned, the railway will "keep falling further behind" and won't be ready to handle future demand for train travel as the country tries to encourage people to shift from cars to public transport.

Because so much work is needed at the same time, both organisations say road users and train passengers will experience significantly more disruption in the coming years. Travellers should expect:

Lower speed limits and no-overtaking zones on sections of highways where structures are weakened

Extra lane closures or narrowed lanes as temporary safety measures while awaiting full repairs

More construction zones and detours as major replacement projects get underway

More planned railway closures on sections of rail lines requiring intensive work

Rijkswaterstaat emphasises that for now, the network still meets basic safety standards, but often only because of temporary measures and emergency repairs. The organisation wants to move away from this constant "patching up" approach toward more thorough structural replacement and renewal, but this requires substantially more funding.

The Court of Audit (Algemene Rekenkamer) warned earlier this year that the budget for maintaining national roads and water systems has been too small for years. The audit estimated that for Rijkswaterstaat alone, the gap between available funding and what's actually needed for proper maintenance and renewal had grown to about €20.5 billion through 2038.

A separate multi-year plan from Rijkswaterstaat showed that between 2025 and 2030, there's a structural annual shortfall of around €1.8 billion just for keeping roads, waterways, and water management systems in acceptable condition.

For the rail network, the funding gap has recently become somewhat smaller after the government provided additional money, but ProRail still faces a significant backlog in replacing old assets before they fail. Rail infrastructure has its own aging problem, with signals, switches, bridges, and tracks all requiring replacement on similar timelines.

The core issue, according to infrastructure experts, is that for many years the government prioritized building new projects—new highways, new rail connections, new bridges—over maintaining existing infrastructure. Politically, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new projects are more attractive than routine maintenance of existing assets.

As a result, a long list of major bridges, tunnels, and railway structures is now overdue for major work at roughly the same time. This "lumpiness" in the maintenance schedule creates both funding challenges and logistical nightmares, as closing multiple major routes simultaneously would paralyze the transportation system.

The deferred maintenance problem also compounds over time. Infrastructure that should have been replaced five or ten years ago is now in worse condition, requiring more expensive emergency repairs and creating higher risks of sudden failures.

Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail are calling on the government and Parliament to make clear, long-term commitments to infrastructure maintenance. They emphasise that stable, predictable funding is essential so they can plan large renewal projects years in advance rather than constantly scrambling for emergency fixes.

Both organisations warn that continuing to delay necessary work will only make the problem more expensive. The older infrastructure becomes, the higher the risk of unplanned failures, sudden closures requiring expensive emergency mobilisation, and situations where replacement parts are no longer manufactured or available.

There's also a safety dimension. While current temporary measures keep the network nominally safe, the margin for error continues to shrink. Unexpected events like heavier-than-normal traffic, extreme weather, or minor accidents could push stressed structures beyond their limits.

For now, the message from the Netherlands' two biggest infrastructure managers is clear: without substantially increased investment and political priority for maintenance, the country will face more disruptions, higher risks, and eventually more expensive emergency situations on its roads, waterways, and rail lines in the years ahead.

The Dutch economy depends heavily on its transportation infrastructure for both domestic mobility and its role as a logistics hub for Europe. Allowing this network to deteriorate threatens not just convenience but economic competitiveness and safety.