Zuidasdok reports on the second half of 2023

Read the letter submitted to the House of Representatives (in Dutch)

Amsterdam Zuid station

The station regeneration is well underway. The key project milestones have been achieved according to schedule. In the second half of 2023 – after two further roof sections were shifted into position – the work reached an important stage: the start of excavations for the additional station passageway. After four years spent building the roof, it was finally time to remove 50,000 cubic metres of sand from underneath the motorway, metro and railway tracks. This was precision work that had to be briefly halted on several occasions because of subsidence in the track that remained in use overhead. The summer of 2024 will see the insertion of the final two roof sections, after which the excavators will be able to complete the digging process. There was an important milestone in September when the Nieuw-Zuid Construction Consortium was awarded the contract to increase the height and width of the existing station passageway.

Tunnel

The tender procedure for the construction of the tunnel was launched in July 2023. It was announced in October that two parties had tendered: a consortium comprising Hochtief, Züblin and Dura Vermeer and a consortium made up of Van Hattum and Blankevoort. The dialogue phase began on 31 October and two of a total of five rounds of dialogue have already taken place. The contract for the work will be awarded to one of the parties by late July 2024. The second half of 2023 was also used to ensure that various areas underground were free of utilities to prepare for the future construction of the tunnel. This included taking cables and pipelines out of Parnassusweg, removing tieback anchors next to the WTC and relocating the underground car park air outlet. Despite the fact that these are very busy locations, the work was completed with virtually no complaints or reports

De Nieuwe Meer junction

The TriAX Construction Consortium (Besix, Dura Vermeer and Heijmans) began work on the definitive design for the reconstruction of the De Nieuwe Meer junction. At the same time, soil surveys were also carried out in preparation for the start of the work in 2024. Talks were held with owners of moorings In the Nieuwe Meer lake and with houseboat owners on the Schinkel river who will be affected by the reconstruction of the junction.

An impact analysis was carried out at the request of the City of Amsterdam into the realisation of additional and higher noise barriers on the A10 West and Zuid for the development of the Schinkelkwartier. This impact analysis showed that it will be possible to put these noise barriers in place without any consequences for the schedule. A second impact analysis requested by the Public Works Department (RWS) relates to tighter requirements for the steel bascule flaps on bridges. In the coming months, this analysis will provide insight into the consequences of the change required. Finally, the tender procedure started for almost 3,000 trees that will be planted after the reconstruction of the De Nieuwe Meer and Amstel junctions.

Amstel junction

For the Amstel junction, the work is focusing on preparations for the start of the tender procedure. The budget has been adjusted to reflect extreme price movements and the current market situation. Any overlap with the tender procedure for the tunnel is being kept to a minimum by only selecting candidates for the dialogue phase after the contractor for the tunnel has been determined.

Extreme price movements and market impacts

In parallel with progress on the Zuidasdok projects, the second half of 2023 was dominated by concerns about rising costs as a result of extreme price movements. In the first half of 2023, Zuidasdok stated that there had been financial setbacks caused by high levels of inflation. The Zuidasdok projects will all take years to complete and require a lot of expensive construction materials and energy. As a result, extreme price increases have had a significant impact on the forecast for the final costs. The second half-yearly report highlighted the expectation that the difference between the forecast for the final costs and the budget is set to increase by an amount between €600 million and €800 million. This expectation remains unchanged. The previous report already included €386 million of this in the financial forecast. This report adds a further €246 million to that, caused by additional expenditure on the contracts for the renovation of the existing station passageway and a reassessment of the budget for the Amstel junction. This amounts to a total difference between the available budget and the forecast of the final costs of up to €632 million. In addition, it will also be necessary to take account of a risk of higher bids as a result of market effects in play when the tender is put to the market (around €150 million). This is in line with the expectations mentioned above. Zuidasdok has been asked to develop scenarios that could be applied in order to prevent cost increases. These will also highlight any consequences in order to enable commissioning authorities to make carefully considered choices. This involves more than just a simple calculation. For a proper decision to be made, any attempt to manage costs will need to take account of the objectives of Zuidasdok (traffic flow on the A10, increasing public transport capacity, more space and quality in the city) and the consequences for related projects such as the area development of Zuidas and the fact that international railway transport will relocate to Amsterdam Zuid station. The plan is for an official decision to be made in the second half of 2024.

Development of risks

Of the ten programme risks involved in the Zuidasdok project, two have increased during this reporting period. The risk ‘Current price and market trends will lead to an increase in budget tension and pressure on the schedule’ has increased, in view of the above-mentioned developments and remains the top risk. The second risk involves increased pressure on the road and railway network caused by works in the region, making it more difficult to gain authorisation for implementation periods that involve routes being taken out of use and road closures. In addition, Zuidasdok has ongoing concerns about its access to sufficient work sites.