Van der Panne mounts special observation tower along A9 Amstelveen

On behalf of Rijkswaterstaat, VeenIX is widening and deepening the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. During the work, safety comes first. Steigerbouw van der Panne is providing various scaffolding constructions here so that everyone can work safely. They also erected a special watchtower near Amstelveen for local residents and interested parties.

"Every scaffold is a special construction," said Laurenz Pluimert, scaffold inspector and supervisor at Van der Panne. "In fact, we perform everything with our on-site supervisor, James Lennon. He can use his direct channels to the execution, project management, planning and accounting department where necessary. Working safely is most important to us. With us, we either work safely or we don't. This is a basic rule that is reflected in everything we do. We provide safe working conditions with smart and sturdy scaffolding. Is a situation extra difficult or does it require extra safety? Then we have the scaffolding structure fully engineered, including a detailed calculation. Together with our partner Peri, we ensure that every spot is properly and safely accessible."

Famous bridges

Steigerbouw van der Panne is known for its craftsmanship, reliability and its priority for safety. Together with the customer, she always looks for the best solution. It provides scaffolding constructions for construction, industry, offshore and infrastructure. Various well-known bridges have been provided with scaffolding structures, for example the Erasmus Bridge, Van Brienenoord Bridge, Blankenburg connection and the Haringvliet Bridge. Van der Panne is also active as a scaffolding contractor in maintenance at the BASF Antwerp site and they regularly assemble scaffolding on offshore platforms.

Scaffolding structure for watchtower

On the A9, Van der Panne's responsibilities include the assembly of a viewing point along the highway. This viewpoint, realized with the PERI UP scaffolding system, allows local residents and interested parties to follow the progress of the work. "In addition, we are building the scaffolding structures at the various bridge sections," says Pluimert. "Among other things, the scaffolding is needed for engineering and inspection of the bridge sections. We built scaffolding to remove the old bridge sections and install the new sections. Here we had to be here 24 hours a day. That was quite a challenge because here we had to switch continuously so that all parties could continue working as quickly and efficiently as possible. We also built a braiding scaffold so that the rebar braiders could do their work safely. And we built various support scaffolds at the pump cellars, among other things."

Fast upshifting

According to Pluimert, the beauty of working on the A9 is mainly the variety. "For every question we come up with a solution. We just arrange it. Structurally, we have seven to eight men working on the A9. So we can switch up quickly when needed."