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Preparations for the construction of Brittenpassage

The building site for Brittenpassage above the A10 orbital motorway. Mahlerplein is on the left, Aaron Coplandstraat is in the centre and Benjamin Brittenstraat to which Brittenpassage will lead is on the right. To the far right is the Metro 51 track and Parnassusweg.

A tall platform (70m long, 15m wide and 2m deep) – complete with side walls – will be constructed on the Arnold Schönberglaan site between Beethovenstraat and Gustav Mahlerplein (to the south of the A10). Upon completion, this will serve as a platform over which trains will pass as well as providing the roof for the new underpass (named Brittenpassage after Benjamin Brittenstraat, the street onto which the underpass will emerge). Once this platform has been constructed, it will be hoisted into place across the A10 and underneath the train tracks.

Supply by night

In order to build the structure, a substantial quantity of materials will have to be transported to the building site, for which a road entrance will have to be created along Parnassusweg. This is difficult right now, as the desired location is in the area where the Metro 51 track (the Amstelveen line) currently crosses Parnassusweg and curves underneath the A10 to reach Amsterdam Zuid Station. For this reason, the materials will be delivered at night after the metro has stopped running. This curved section of track will be decommissioned on the night of 2-3 March 2019 and subsequently demolished, after which the building consortium ZuidPlus will also be able to supply materials during the day.

Line 51 currently curves under the A10 and crosses the train tracks.

Three structures

The south side of Brittenpassage will consist of three structures that will be built separately. The first of these is the aforementioned concrete platform, which is shaped like an upturned letter U, measures 70m in length and will be installed underneath platforms 2 and 3. Once this is done, the two other components will be constructed on the building site using the same method before being installed underneath platform 1 and the two extra train tracks that will be built on the south side of the station.

Foundation piles

Once construction of the first platform for Brittenpassage is complete, a substantial amount of work will have to be done before it can be moved into place. After all, it goes without saying that a colossal structure like this needs solid foundations. The foundation piles will have to be screwed through the A10 motorway and underneath the train tracks (this section of the A10 will later be moved underground), and some parts of the current platforms will have to be removed and replaced with new temporary platforms built on top of scaffolding. All of this work will be carried out in the spring of 2019. Naturally, we will keep you up to date regarding the exact dates on which the work will cause disruptions for road and train users.

Construction of the building site near Benjamin Brittenstraat, August 2018.

More building sites

The Arnold Schönberglaan site will not be the only building site in operation during the construction of Brittenpassage: work will also be conducted on a site between the metro lines and to the north of the A10 orbital motorway. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Right now, our attention is focused on building the first concrete structure at the Arnold Schönberglaan site, which promises to be a truly awe-inspiring sight!

Artist's impression of Brittenpassage once opened to the public.

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