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Smooth start to 11-day closure of A10 Zuid

It all happened at 22:45 on 22 July: the closure of the A4 and the A10 Zuid from the Badhoevedorp interchange was a fact. Although it was 45 minutes later than scheduled – due to a car that had unfortunately broken down on the hard shoulder – Nieuw-Zuid construction consortium got off to a great start digging up the A10 Zuid. During the night of Friday into Saturday, we removed the asphalt across a width of around a hundred metres, dug 1.5 metres into the ground and took two railway tracks out of service. We also laid a construction road to enable materials to be delivered.

Precision work and construction road

During the 11-day closure, we are working on the foundations of the new passenger terminal, known as the Brittenpassage. There is only limited space in which to deliver foundation piles and sheet piling, because we are working on the edge of the embankment where the A10 runs. Because we have put in a temporary construction road, freight trucks can now bring in materials backwards. The road is too small to turn around in, so this is still very much precision work.

Inserting sheet piles

On Saturday, we began pre-drilling the sheet piling and inserting dozens of foundation piles, after which, on Sunday, we started vibro-driving 80 sheet piles. So far, this process has run smoothly, keeping any noise nuisance to a minimum. This is likely to take us until Wednesday to complete, but we may also need to work on Thursday. Starting today, we are using two machines simultaneously, which could increase the disruption caused by noise.

Limited disruption to car drivers

Even on the road, this weekend’s disruption proved to be manageable. Traffic is being diverted via the A5 and A9. We previously warned road users to expect increased travelling times of up to 1 hour, but it was actually only around 15 to 20 minutes on the A9, and even less on some other routes. ASK&GO, the service that provides travellers with a personal travel advice, was also well received. This weekend saw ASK&GO issue travel advice to around 300 people, bringing the grand total to 1,800 since the service started just a few weeks ago. Click here to ask your personal travel question.

So, what else are we doing?

In the week ahead, we will be reinforcing the foundation piles before burning them down to the right size and pouring in concrete. We will then be hoisting huge steel reinforcement cages onto the top of the piles. The formwork will be placed around this and we will then fill the cages with many cubic metres of concrete. When that is complete, the abutments will be in place. Starting from 2 August, we will replace the track and the A10. By the morning rush hour on 3 August, drivers will be travelling on a fresh layer of asphalt almost as if nothing had happened.

Installing reinforcement cage in June 2019

Zuidasdok

This work is part of the Zuidasdok project involving the widening and tunnelling under the A10 Zuid and the complete renovation of Amsterdam Zuid station. The construction of the second station passageway is a crucial step in the process of increasing the capacity of busy Amsterdam Zuid station. After its renovation, this station will have passenger numbers similar to those at Amsterdam Central Station.

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