During some weeks, eight foundations machines will be utilized simultaneously. The statistics: 5,922 piles of which 1,161 are prefab concrete piles and 4,211 are vibro combo piles. Moreover, for a bridge spanning the Amsterdam Rhine Channel, 450 additional vibro piles will be created from April until June this year. The two projects’ total turnaround will be, divided in several phases, two years.
Fewer traffic jams
The aqueduct’s construction and the bridge over the Amsterdam Rhine Canal is part of a road enlargement program in order to broaden the freeways between Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam and Almere Dreef (A9, A10, A1, A6) over a distance of 63 kilometers, partly re-routing them resulting into fewer traffic jams and an enhancement of the area’s livability. Five large junctions are being renovated, hundreds of viaducts have to be adjusted and a new tunnel is being dug. In addition, sound walls spanning 33 kilometers will be placed and sound-reducing asphalt will be installed. SAAone, a special construction combination consisting of VolkerWessels, Boskalis, Hochtief and DIF is, under the authority of Rijkswaterstaat, responsible for the A1 and A6 route. In 2020, the activities will be finished.
Cost-conscious
Vroom engineer Pieter Timmer: “We think along with our partners in order to come to the most economic and acceptable solution. We have offered a cost-conscious alternative for the aqueduct suggesting that instead of driving prefab concrete piles until a maximum depth of 6 meters using our deep-level piling technique, we use vibro combo piles for deep-level piling depths of more than 3 meters. Ultimately, SAAone has agreed to our suggestion.”
Challenge
Because of the size of the building, a meticulous dimensioning process is required. The choice to dimension the daily production has been made. By doing so, the chance of potential deviations will be limited. Also, the ground is a challenge: on a lot of places, it is injected with a gel layer that functions as a dam. On some places, it will be a challenge to drive piles, sometimes 27 meters long, to a depth level of at least 14 meters under ground level.
Experience
Vroom Foundation Technology has outstanding references in order to realize this kind of mega projects properly, for example the construction of the Verlengde Waal River Bridge and the Promenade Bridge near Nijmegen and the Haek Súd near Wirdum. In 2016, the aqueduct will be brought into use.
You can find more information on www.saaone.com.
