When you are driving onto the A4 from the A10 Zuid, you will probably not have noticed that we have widened the motorway slightly, across a length of around 300 m. However, this widening is a key part of the complex reconstructing of the De Nieuwe Meer junction. And it involves more than just laying a strip of asphalt.
Why widen the road?
Part of the reconstruction of the junction involves relocating the northern S108 access road in the direction of A4 Schiphol/Rotterdam. This is in order to make space for the future construction of the motorway tunnel. Traffic from Amstelveenseweg heading in the direction of Schiphol/Rotterdam will travel past the Tripolis Park building in order to join the A10. We are extending this traffic lane across the most northerly, still to be constructed, bridge from the existing Schinkelbrug bridge. Via a flyover, the carriageway will then merge with the main A4 carriageway, which is where the problem lies. At the point where these roads will ultimately merge (see map), one of the issues with the existing road was that it was too narrow.
Addition of hard shoulder under metro viaduct
‘The motorway needed to have a natural bend in it here, to enable traffic heading from the new S108 access road in the direction of the A4, to merge with the other traffic’, explains Arjen van de Sligte, Zuidasdok Soil, Road and Hydraulic Engineering consultant. ‘Besides, this is just in front of the metro viaduct. Alongside the three existing lanes, there needs to be an extra hard shoulder between the two viaduct supports. Fitting that in is a complicated challenge.’
Piece of footing removed
In order to be able to accommodate three lanes and a hard shoulder under the metro viaduct, we have removed the guardrail and part of the footing (concrete foundation structure) from one of the supports. Van der Sligte: ‘We then laid a strip of asphalt around 5 to 6 m wide. This was done across a length of around 300 m. The road widening continues to the railway viaduct where the lanes rejoin the existing road.’
Moving portal gantry
At the point where the connecting road from the S108 will ultimately merge with the A4, there is currently still a portal gantry in place (support structure above the road where the blue road signs are). We will be moving this further to the west, so it is no longer obstructing the road. To do that, we first need to add foundations on both sides of the motorway at this site. This work is scheduled to be done during the weekend closures of 31 January-3 February and 7-10 February.
Share article:
Give your opinion