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The redesign of the A.C. de Graafweg (N241) not only involves attention to the modified road structure; the public lighting and traffic control installations are also being replaced. That task has been assigned to Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek, an all-round specialist in infrastructural electrical engineering, and familiar with the N241 for many years because of the area contract with the province of North Holland for preventive and corrective maintenance of the installations in the middle and north regions.
Because of the complexity and phasing, Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek is part of Boskalis' construction team for the redesign of the A.C. de Graafweg. "Our scope includes the construction of the new public lighting, two intelligent traffic control installations (VRI) and the modification of existing traffic control installations," says Bjørn Dielemans, director at Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek. "Although we are more than capable of providing the design of a traffic control installation ourselves, in this case, however, it had already been worked out by an external party. For the public lighting, on the other hand, we provided the implementation design and performed the cable calculations."
The project is being handled in phases. For the realization of the control and installation, Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek is of course following the schedule of Boskalis, which has started its execution since this summer. "In the intelligent traffic control installations we will be installing, we are working for the first time with a fiber optic link between the i-VRIs," says Lex van Dijk, calculator and work planner at Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek. "Fiberglass offers room in the future to make the transition to a 'real' i-VRI in which vehicles coming in will log in to the VRI, as it were. In fact, it will soon even be the intention for an i-VRI to receive preliminary information from route planners to adjust the traffic flow accordingly." Speaking of logging in, emergency services and public transport vehicles will soon be in contact with the i-VRIs via Short Range Radio to be given certain priority. Like the link to the fire station that can turn the i-VRIs to red with a physical button in the station.
Over part of the alignment of the A.C. de Graafweg, the adjacent drinking water transport pipeline will be relocated. "It is quite an intervention in the cable and pipeline strip along the road," Van Dijk knows. "At various intersections, we are adapting the existing traffic lights to enable the relocation of the water pipeline, without hindering traffic and, of course, in accordance with regulations. For example, we place the pylons further out so that the stop lines and road layout can be maintained." In that cable and pipe strip, Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek is also creating space for the cabling of the new public lighting. "We are supplying and installing a total of 137 masts with corresponding fixtures," says Jibbe van Staveren, calculator and work planner at Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek, who is extremely pleased with the cooperation on this project. "In the preliminary stage, a meeting day was initiated by Boskalis with all parties involved. Everyone is aware of each other's role within the project and that is extremely valuable for aligning disciplines and shaping the planning together."
As a total installer, Ko Hartog Elektrotechniek designs, installs and maintains electrical installations in infrastructure. "With our knowledge and expertise of systems, guidelines and legislation, we are able to create a plan from the first idea that fits within the public space," Dielemans summarizes. "We then have everything we need to install and maintain the installations in-house. With our own crane trucks, aerial platforms and excavators and a focus on public lighting and traffic control installations. But we also like to include charging stations and site lighting in our scope. We are broadly oriented in that respect."
