Efficiency and grip on new developments

We maintain infrastructure' is the best way to describe the work of the Maintenance department within the Infra division of Croonwolter&dros. In particular, we focus on the technology in engineering structures, such as tunnels, bridges, locks, dams and flood defenses. In view of the large V&R task and the many challenges in the market, Infra Maintenance regularly calls on the Technology & Development department within Croonwolter&dros' own organization. "This cooperation helps ensure that we are open to change and can make new technological developments our own," says Guido Koopmans, Manager Maintenance at Croonwolter&dros Infra.

Croonwolter&dros manages some 20 tunnels and also maintains various other bridges, locks and barriers. Croonwolter&dros also renovates existing structures and helps build new ones: "For example, we built a new lock for Eefde Lock and renovated the monumental lock. And we are involved in the construction of new tunnels, such as the Corbulotunnel on the A4/A44 RijnlandRoute and the Rottemerentunnel in the A16 Rotterdam, the new national highway between A13 and A16. With these types of complex projects, maintenance requirements are already included in the design," Koopmans knows. "The Rottemer Tunnel is a special tunnel anyway, because it will be the first energy-neutral tunnel in the world. We are therefore applying various innovations here, such as direct current in the tunnel, solar panels on the roof and energy storage is being looked at. Our Technology & Development Department is picking up innovative technology that we then implement in the project."

Operational improvement

In the maintenance department, management and maintenance of assets is the day-to-day work. "At the same time, a lot of challenges are added," Koopmans notes. "Our clients expect more and more in terms of availability, sustainability and smart maintenance, deliverability of parts where there is also a tight labor market. This creates high operational pressure, where we have to change while keeping the 'store' open. So, by definition, we have little time to work on operational improvement." Reason for Croonwolter&dros to set up a separate department within the Infra division: Technology & Development. A team of already 10 employees that has time to work on technology and development with attention. "We are working on the one hand on applying innovation in practice, but also on improving the way we do our work, such as asset management," says Martijn Marijnen, Program Manager Asset Management and a.i. responsible for the Technology & Development department. "For example, we have recently been able to use tablets to handle the administration of maintenance work digitally."

Four main themes

The Technology & Development Department roughly focuses on four main themes: digitization, asset management, standardization and sustainability. "Based on feedback from operations in relation to the strategic objectives, we prioritize developments," Marijnen explains. "For the asset management program, the maintenance department is often our internal client. If they need something to do their job better, we are called in. We combine this with our own research and keep up with industry developments. This allows us to link new solutions to real-world challenges." 

This way of working contributes to Croonwolter&dros' main goal; to reduce risks and increase the predictability and reliability of installations. According to Marijnen, this is relevant because of the lifespan of technical installations. "The lifespan of the civil construction is at least 100 years, but that of the technical installations is often only 10-15 years. These therefore pose the greatest risk to availability. To manage those risks, high-level asset management is very important." Koopmans adds: "Through sensoring and data analysis, we are increasingly moving toward predictable maintenance and monitoring failure behavior. Because if you make failure predictable, you can optimize availability."

With the interaction between Maintenance and Technology & Development, we get more control and efficiency in making new developments our own, sums up Koopmans. "Such a structure is quite unique within the infrastructure sector, there are few companies in our sector that are organized this way with their own Technology & Development department. We believe it is the only way to continue to play a role in this society in the future." 

Croonwolter&dros will also be present at InfraTech 2023 in Hall 6, booth number 6.001.