The Netherlands Built a New Piece of Europe

From the video's description

This part of the Netherlands used to be the North Sea.

In 2008, construction began on Maasvlakte 2, a huge expansion of the Port of Rotterdam built by reclaiming land from the sea. Around 2,000 hectares were added to the Netherlands, creating space for container terminals, roads, railways and some of Europe's most automated port infrastructure.

But how do you actually build new land in the North Sea?

This video follows how Maasvlakte 2 was created, from moving enormous amounts of sand and building its sea defences to the automated terminals operating there today, and why Rotterdam is already studying what another expansion could look like.

---------------- NASA Earth Observatory / USGS: Landsat views of Rotterdam (2006, 2009, 2010), cropped and animated.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/land-reclamation-at-rotterdam-47122/

PDOK / Dutch government: 2024 and 2025 aerial photographs of the port, CC BY 4.0, cropped, graded and animated.
https://www.pdok.nl/-/luchtfoto-2025-nu-beschikbaar-bij-pdok https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Dutch National Archives: "Havens, Maasvlakte, Bestanddeelnr 250-8147", CC0, cropped and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Havens,_Maasvlakte,_Bestanddeelnr_250-8147.jpg

Mr3641: "Maasvlakte2 Construction", public domain, cropped and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maasvlakte2_Construction.jpg

Minister-president Rutte: "Tweede Maasvlakte (6802866053)", CC BY 2.0, cropped, graded and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tweede_Maasvlakte_(6802866053).jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Reinoud Kaasschieter: "2015-05-05 (01) Maasvlakte 2", CC BY 2.0, cropped, graded and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-05-05_(01)_Maasvlakte_2_-_Flickr_-_Reinoud_Kaasschieter.jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

el ui: "2nd maasvlakte terminal in progress", CC BY 3.0, cropped and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2nd_maasvlakte_terminal_in_progress_-_panoramio.jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Paulswagerman: "Slufter, Tweede Maasvlakte, Harbour expansion, Rotterdam, NL", CC BY 4.0, cropped, graded and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slufter,_Tweede_Maasvlakte,_Harbour_expansion,_Rotterdam,_NL.jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Government of the Netherlands: "Opening Maasvlakte 2 door minister IenM", CC0 archive footage, excerpted and graded.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opening_Maasvlakte_2_door_minister_IenM.webm

FaceMePLS: "2e Maasvlakte (16076976310)" and "2e Maasvlakte (16264346355)", CC BY 2.0, cropped, graded and animated.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2e_Maasvlakte_(16076976310).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2e_Maasvlakte_(16264346355).jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Opening music: "Shadow Chase" — Jimena Contreras.