Profit from good cooperation

What do you get when you involve a geotechnical consulting firm in an infrastructure project from the beginning? Better risk management and therefore more certainty, the municipality of Edam-Volendam experienced in cooperation with CRUX. The company thought along from A to Z in the project for a new access road. And that provided many advantages for both parties. 

CRUX is an independent consulting firm that has been working for 20 years on everything related to geotechnical engineering, geohydrology and soil: from large to small construction pits and from environmental engineering to infrastructure. They believe in a construction world where safety, knowledge, sustainability and transparency are paramount and invest in solid risk
inventories. It was therefore logical, that the municipality of Edam-Volendam enlisted their help in the construction of the new Third Access Road.

Unique collaboration

Municipality of Edam-Volendam ran into a number of issues. "The new road goes right through a meadow and connects to a provincial road that is 5 meters higher. There are risks in that, especially in the settlement story," explains Jacco Mak, project manager
of the municipality, explained. "That's why we chose to include CRUX in this project from the beginning."

CRUX looked over the plans, risks, requirements and assessments of contractors who bid for the project. "That is a positive experience," says Michel de Koning, Senior Advisor on Geotechnical Engineering at CRUX. "This is because we can use our knowledge in a different way. We know what the pitfalls are from our own design experience. This allows us to advise the municipality to get the best out of the project with the least possible risk."

Taking all facets into account

The fact that the connection with the provincial road is 5 meters high and that there is a bicycle tunnel nearby are things that are taken into account in a design. "We take into account all the facets that go into a good design, bringing in our own knowledge and experience," De Koning said. Heartening for the municipality, which can therefore hand over a little more rope to the contractor. "Although we'd rather not do that," Mak smiles. "But with CRUX's expertise, we certainly dared to do that."

Good learning

The cooperation is also positive for CRUX. "It is especially interesting in this project that we are looking in from the client side for once, instead of just the contractor side," explains De Koning. "That's a good look for us from a different perspective. How and why are requirements defined? How do you make sure you interpret risks properly and that they are feasible for a contractor? We take that into our own design work." 

"Right now, we are doing a lot of monitoring and continuing to test whether what was conceived in advance is actually running that way," Mak said. "We are very happy with our cooperation with CRUX: we have more certainty and don't encounter unpleasant surprises."