Five artworks in area development Eindhoven Northwest

Eindhoven Northwest is an area development primarily focused on the high-tech industry. To open up the Eindhoven Northwest area and improve the accessibility of the city, various business parks and Eindhoven Airport, the infrastructure is being expanded and adapted. Combination Heijmans-Ploegam is realizing the second phase on behalf of the Municipality of Eindhoven. The project includes the construction of the complete main infrastructure including the construction of five artworks, two of which are under the architecture of Ney & Partners. Ploegam was previously involved in the first phase as well, although in a different composition.

Area development Eindhoven Northwest is located west of Eindhoven Airport. The municipality of Eindhoven has divided the renewed infrastructure into three phases. Phase 1, which includes the construction of the iconic Tegenbosch bicycle bridge, has been completed; phase 2 is now underway. Phase 3 will follow at a later stage and includes the construction of a tunnel under the A2 and N2 motorways. Heijmans and Ploegam jointly entered the tender for phase 2. "We know each other from previous projects and in this tender we joined forces to achieve the necessary synergies," says Joris Bevaart, project manager at Ploegam. "With our separate disciplines and areas of expertise, we complement each other perfectly on this work." Heijmans focuses mainly on civil work and asphalt, while Ploegam is strong in earth moving.

Construction team context

Phase 2 involves the construction of 4.3 kilometers of road infrastructure that includes three traffic bridges, two bicycle bridges, as well as a number of ecological connecting zones, fauna passages and toad pools. For both one road bridge (structure 02) and one bicycle bridge (structure 03), the architectural design of Laurent Ney of Ney & Partners was leading. It was up to the construction consortium to make it "doable" in construction team. "It is one of the reasons why the municipality of Eindhoven chose an integrated contract form in a construction team context," knows John Strik, project manager of Integral Region Projects at Heijmans. Bevaart adds: "Another reason was not owning all the land at the time of the tender. In this way, the Municipality of Eindhoven managed to build the necessary flexibility into the planning and construction phasing so that the expropriation of the land would not lead to delays in the preparations."

Integral viaducts

Of the five structures, three will be realized over the Beatrix Canal and two in the 'free field'. Strik: "The design of the structures over the canal (KW01-KW05-KW06) is in line with the existing structures: functional. The slender substructure is cast in situ and the superstructure is constructed with prefabricated beams. The two iconic structures, on the other hand, will be cast entirely in situ. They are so-called integral viaducts in which the design (arch shape) determines the structural operation. The great challenge lies in the very slender construction with deck thicknesses between 350/400 mm for spans between 20 and 25 meters. In addition, the large splash forces must be transferred at the abutments to the subsoil and the interaction between forces/soil/piles requires the necessary attention. The interplay of forces behaves very differently from a traditional structure."

Two of the five structures are now nearing completion. Artworks KW03 and KW05 are currently under construction and KW06 will begin construction next year. "On schedule, most of Phase 2 will be completed by mid-November, including the road infrastructure. Some 60,000 tons of asphalt will then have been laid and 200,000 m³ of land moved. The last part of phase 2, including a bicycle bridge over the Beatrix Canal, will follow in early 2022, for which the land is now being purchased by the Municipality of Eindhoven," Bevaart concluded.