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Diversion in Minervapassage: 5 to 7 May

The diversion will run via the metro platforms. Access to the metro platforms by lift will be possible only from Gustav Mahlerplein. The other lift will be out of action because of the works. In Matthijs Vermeulenpad and Arnold Schönberglaan, taxi buses will be standing by to drive people with mobility issues from Zuidplein (WTC) to Mahlerplein and vice-versa. There will be stewards in the station to assist with heavy luggage. Passengers who wish to access the metro platform with their bikes are advised to use the Gustav Marhlerplein entrance in order to take the lift.

Demolishing old roof and moving new roof

This work on the Minervapassage is necessary in order to accommodate the growing passenger numbers at Amsterdam Zuid station. For the same reason, we have been working since 2019 on the construction of a second passageway: the Brittenpassage. The Minervapassage will soon be 40 m wide (now around 12 m) and approximately 4.2 m in height. The roof is the first part to be built. The section of the Minervapassage running underneath the metro tracks will be twice as tall as it is now. In the weekend of 5-7 May, we are partly closing off Minervapassage to make it possible to demolish part of the roof across which the metro trains run. In the weekend from 9-7 June, we will then put a new roof section in its place. The diversion in Minervapassage will also apply then.

Space for support in passageway

Of course, in the intervening six weeks, we will also be working. In that time, we will be building an extra support for the new roof section in the centre of the passageway. This will be needed to support the sheet of concrete which is 100 m in length. This is a complex job that requires space. We will be creating that space in the weekend of 5-7 May. You can expect disruption in the Minervapassage until the summer.

5-7 May 2023: Minervapassage diversion

How will we be demolishing the roof?

The existing roof, which serves as the deck for this part of the track, consists of a series of long concrete beams. We will start the work by sawing into these beams. This will be done between Friday, 28 April and Sunday, 30 April. You can find details of the exact times here. The work will cause some noise disruption, which we will attempt to reduce by means of noise-control barriers. We have scheduled Monday, 1 May until the evening of Wednesday, 3 May (19.00 until 23.00) as reserve days. Starting at 21.00 on the evening of Friday, 5 May, we will be lifting out the existing beams using a crane. For safety reasons, this work will be done at night. We will be transporting all of the existing beams to our work site in Eduard van Beinumstraat during that night. During the next week, we will be cutting them into pieces and disposing of them in containers. The northerly lane in Parnassusweg will be closed for a ten-minute period on eight occasions. On 6 and 7 May, we will be drilling piles into the ground in the passageway. A runner will be placed on top of them, since this will be needed in order to insert the new roof into position in June.

Preparations and other disruptions

Preparations are now in progress. For example, the new roof section, that will be under the North/South metro line (line 52) track, has already been built on our construction site between the tracks. Part of the Minervapassage has also been closed off and only one lift is available to the metro platforms, in order to make it possible for the Nieuw-Zuid construction consortium to work safely. This will continue until mid-July. From 24 April, fewer access gates to the metro platforms will be in use. We are dismantling some of them to create space in order to install runner piles that will be used to put the roof section into position in June.

Schedule

We will of course update you when we are inserting the roof section in June. The new section underneath the North/South line is not the end of the work on the roof of the Minervapassage: in the years ahead, we will be inserting a further two roof sections underneath the metro tracks.

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