We have already built some sections of the roof for the new Brittenpassage, but this is the first time that the Nieuw-Zuid construction consortium has been involved. It is made up of contractors Mobilis, Boskalis and Van Gelder. The roof sections that we inserted into position in November 2019 and August 2021 were still part of the work done by the ZuidPlus consortium. Project manager Geo van Tintelen realises that the new construction consortium still needs to gain people’s trust, but he is not someone who shies away from a challenge. ‘This isn’t the first time I’ve done work like this. I’ve also worked on the construction of railway tunnels elsewhere in the country. Every time the conditions are different, which is what makes working on the railway so interesting. And, for some reason or other, I’m such a masochist that I enjoy working on the weekends.’
Concern for the neighbours
The job that is currently starting also involves plenty of challenges. ‘What we need to build is actually our everyday work: formwork, reinforcement and an awful lot of concrete – that’s what it comes down to. But everything needs to happen on a very small work site. We also have a lot of neighbours to be concerned about. It’s something we really need to be aware of, in every possible way: from the choice of construction technique and machines to the working hours.’
Pre-construction platform
On the ‘preconstruction platform’ that has been on the construction site alongside Arnold Schönberglaan since 2019, there is now plenty of activity. This is the steel platform on which Van Tintelen and his team are pre-building the next roof section for the new Brittenpassage. Yellow runners have now been attached to the platform and a floor laid around it for the wood formwork (see the video below). Work is now being done on the formwork around it all, the massive mould within which the roof section is being built. ‘We have a team of just under 20 people. The steel reinforcement arrives on 10 October. Some steel fixers will also be joining us then’, says Van Tintelen. ‘They have around a month to complete the work.’
1,000 cubic metres of concrete
The concrete pouring is scheduled to start in November. It needs to be done in one go. ‘We’re still deciding whether it’s best to do this during the day or at night.’ Van Tintelen does a quick calculation: the roof section is 70 metres long, a full 14.5 metres wide and around 1 metre thick. That requires the pouring of around 1,000 cubic metres of concrete. ‘If you can deliver an average of hundred cubic metres per hour, that will take you 10 hours. The logistics for those concrete trucks will need to be planned very carefully.’
Power-floating
After the concrete pouring, it will be ‘power-floated’: levelling the concrete floor on which the trains on track 1 will run together with the trains on one of the two extra tracks that will be added to Amsterdam Zuid station in the future. When the roof section has been levelled, vertical walls will be added to the concrete sheet. ‘Ultimately, the rails will be positioned between them’, explains Van Tintelen. ‘They are intended to keep the ballast in position under the rails.’
Shifting process
When all of that is done, the first shifting process will happen just before Christmas: not yet across the A10 – which needs to happen eventually – but towards it. Van Tintelen: ‘We need to free up the pre-construction platform in order to be able to build the next roof section immediately. That will be the final roof section from this construction site. Both will be shifted into their final position around Ascension Day next year.’ This final roof section will be underneath the second additional track and under the A10. Further information will follow in due course.
Give your opinion