Where in Zuidas
The months of August and September 2023 are packed with work in Parnassusweg, next to the metro viaducts. Parnassusweg will be closed to traffic heading out of city for two months in order to enable work on the widening of the existing and construction of a new metro viaduct. In August and September, we will be installing sheet piles, which will even require the closure of the A10 in the direction of Schiphol/The Hague in the nights of 14/15 August and 26/27 August, from 22.00 in the evening until 06.00 in the morning in both cases. In September, we will be building two interim supports: one for the widening the existing metro viaduct and one for a new viaduct. From October until the spring of 2024, we will then continue work building the abutment for the new metro viaduct.
Widening of existing metro viaduct
There is currently a Zuidasdok work site between the metro tracks, between the existing metro platforms and Parnassusweg. This is where the metro platforms will be in the future. It will then also be possible to access them from the future second passenger tunnel at Amsterdam Zuid station, the Brittenpassage. To create space for all of this, we are moving the existing northern track used by metros 50 and 51 (in the direction of Isolatorweg) slightly further north. In order to make that possible, we are also widening the viaduct across Parnassusweg.
New metro viaduct
When we start using the new Brittenpassage and the new metro platforms in 2027, metro 52 (the North/South line) will have two tracks, just like the other stops on the line. We are connecting these tracks to the Amstelveenseweg railyard tracks. This means that they then will also run across Parnassusweg. To make that possible, we will later also build a new metro viaduct across Parnassusweg, in-between the existing metro viaducts.
Sheet-pile construction pit
Ultimately, the metro viaducts across Parnassusweg will be supported by newly-constructed abutments and several additional support pillars. In this phase, we are only building the western support pillars for both viaducts. We are installing earth- and water-retaining sheet pile walls to make it possible to dig out the construction pits in which we will build the support pillars.
On the map below, the sheet-pile walls we are installing in August and September are shown in blue.
We are using two small construction pits to build the additional interim supports, between the western cycle path and the carriageway: one of them to widen the existing viaduct and one for the new metro viaduct. In the western embankment along Parnassusweg we are building an abutment at the same time. That is a support for the new metro viaduct which also provides room for the future power supply for the metros (a rectifier station).
The table below shows the various dates and times of the works (in Dutch).
Closures of A10 in the direction of A4 Schiphol/The Hague
In order to position all of the sheet piles, the existing rectifier station needs to be hoisted from its position temporarily. For that reason, we are closing the A10 Zuid in the direction of the A4 Schiphol/The Hague in the nights of 14/15 August and 26/27 August, from 22.00 in the evening until 05.00 in the morning. Traffic will be diverted via the A1, A9 and A10 Noord (see map). The A10 Zuid in the direction of A1 Hengelo and A2 Utrecht can still be used.
This same road closure will be repeated in September when we start building the additional supports for both the existing and new metro viaduct. In the weekends of 9/10 September and 23/24 September, the A10 Zuid will be closed in the direction of A4 Schiphol/The Hague from the Amstel interchange to the S108 VUmc access road.
Noise exemption permit and monitoring
Most of the noise produced during the work will be when we install the sheet piles. We have submitted an application to the North Sea Canal Area Environmental Service (Omgevingsdienst Noordzeekanaalgebied) for a noise exemption permit. In our application, we provide an indication of the work we plan to do and the times, as well as the amount of noise we expect to make. This includes quite a level of detail: for the different buildings and dwellings in the area, we predict the level of façade noise exposure, breaking it down it into different times. In this, we are obliged to use the ‘best available low-noise technique’ and must be able to demonstrate this. We ourselves are continually monitoring noise during the works using seven noise meters spread across the area. The Environmental Service also makes checks to ensure we remain within the permitted standard.
In the upcoming period, Zuidasdok is carrying out numerous works in and around Amsterdam Zuid station. We have drawn up a list of the works up to the end of 2023 (in Dutch).
Update, Sunday 13 August 2023
As indicated above, the Nieuw-Zuid construction consortium (carrying out the work on behalf of the commissioning authority Zuidasdok) is continually monitoring the noise produced during the work. But that is not all. The noise exemption permit application also describes the measures that the Nieuw-Zuid construction consortium will take if the noise standard is exceeded, including temporary suspending the work as a last resort.
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