Bridge completed across a half-filled Ravelgracht

The view from the new access bridge to the AFC football club pitches – connecting Goed Genoeg sports park to the Ravel residential district – is quite a picture. On a sunny day, the towers of the Valley building reflect in the recently-dug canal (Ravelgracht) underneath the bridge. We previously reported about the digging of the 425 m long canal, which we have now half-filled with water. ‘The canal is full between Beethovenstraat and the access bridge leading to the sports park – we’ve even had to pump out some water in recent weeks because of the heavy rainfall’, explains Ronald Sminia, Zuidas project manager for public space. ‘We’re now completing the masonry work on the other half of the canal wall – from the bridge up to Antonio Vivaldistraat. In a few weeks’ time, we’ll be able to fill that too.’

Together with the future Maurice Ravellaan, the Ravelgracht forms a natural divide between the Goed Genoeg sports park and the future, low-traffic Ravel residential district. Between Ravellaan and the canal, work is currently under way on what promises to be a very green promenade. ‘Alongside the canal, we’ll soon be laying a natural stone footpath, using the same tiles as those in the bridge’, says Sminia. ‘Along the length of the canal, we’ll build four large planters made of the same natural stone, but in the form of blocks, making it possible to create seating. The planters will then be filled with earth and planted up with trees and other greenery. But that won’t be happening until after the summer, when the planting season restarts.’

After the green section, there will be another pathway for pedestrians right next to the cycle path. This will be followed by Maurice Ravellaan, the only road for motor vehicles in Ravel. ‘This is set to be a car-free residential area’, explains Sminia. ‘That means that there’ll be two underground car parks under the housing, with an access road leading from and to Maurice Ravellaan. But, as a result of that, you won’t encounter any cars in the residential district itself.’ From the AFC bridge, you can clearly see how a strip of sand marks out what will be Ravellaan. The contours of the promenade are also visible: most of the blocks surrounding the planting are already in position. Sminia: ‘The first thing to be completed will be Ravellaan. We are laying the cycle path and footpath in phases, because the sports park needs to remain easily accessible at all times. We expect to have completed the public space between the canal and the road by the end of 2024.’

Not only the public space, but also the Ravel residential district will gradually take shape in the second half of 2024. Earlier this year, the initial pile-driving work was done for the new accommodation for the Kindercampus Zuidas, at the heart of the residential district. Just next to this building, construction work will start in September on the first Ravel housing block: Ravelly, boasting 76 social rental apartments. Construction work is expected to start in early 2025 on Tic-Tac-Toe, a complex of family homes. In 2026, to the south of Valley, in Beethovenstraat, work will start on the construction of The Harmony.