Where in Zuidas
The four plane trees will be cut down on Saturday 12 March 2022, and unfortunately it will not be possible to replant them. We are cutting the trees down now ahead of nesting season, which begins on 15 March. In the future, we will be planting 20 to 25 new trees in this area. That will be done in 2025 at the earliest. The tree-felling permit was issued on 19 January 2022.
Root structure
The reason we cannot replant the trees is their root structure. Tree roots do not grow any deeper than the level that groundwater reaches, due to the lack of oxygen. In this area, the level of the groundwater is so high that the trees’ roots have mainly spread out horizontally, rather than deep down into the ground. That means the root systems are not stable enough to transplant the trees. ‘You can liken it to a ball of pastry’, explains our tree specialist Annemiek van Loon. ‘It’s easy to lift it up when it’s rolled into a ball. But if you roll the pastry out thinner and then try to lift it, it will break. A similar phenomenon is at play with these trees.’
11 plane trees at Valley
Previously, we were able to replant 11 plane trees on the east side of Beethovenstraat. Those trees needed to be removed to make way for the construction of Valley, but were replanted once the building had been completed. Why was it possible to replace those trees, which are quite close to the current four trees? ‘The trees at Valley were on a fairly narrow strip between the road and the bike path’, explains Van Loon. ‘The roots didn’t grow under the asphalt, because they don’t get enough oxygen there. That meant that the root systems of those trees were fairly compact. The soil quality was also better.’
Preparing the construction area
The trees need to be moved in order to prepare for construction work in a section of Ravel, the new residential area. To get the ground ready for the building work, we need to remove everything – both above and below the ground. That includes things like pipes, building foundations, asphalt, paving, trees and roots. Everything has to be cleared. We expect to start preparing the ground to the east of the trees in September 2022. Specifically, that is the area between Beethovenstraat and Antonio Vivaldistraat, bounded to the north by the future Maurice Ravellaan and to the south by De Boelegracht canal. Approximately 1,350 homes will be built in this section of Ravel in the coming years – it will be a green, car-free neighbourhood.
Casing pipes
We are going to install casing pipes in the strip of land where the trees are located. A casing pipe is nothing more than an empty pipe intended to house many smaller cables and pipes. The advantage of casing pipes is that it is easy to push new cables through them, without having to dig up the entire length. There are still hundreds of cables criss-crossing the area in question, where we will be building lots of homes in the coming years. By installing casing pipes, we can move those cables and pipes at a later point, when we are preparing the ground for construction. The casing pipes are expected to be installed sometime after June 2022.
Timetable
The actual rerouting of cables and pipes through the casing pipes will take place in the autumn, when we start preparing the area for construction. We will start with the western section of Ravel, and we estimate that it will take until the beginning of February 2023 to prepare this section for construction. The eastern section will be prepared later. The Zuidas Kindercampus is still located there, which is expected to move to a brand-new building in the Ravel district in 2024.
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