Architectural edge elements in composite and stainless steel

The concrete structures on the A24 Blankenburg connection will be finished with architecturally attractive edge elements in composite and a few in stainless steel. A job that construction consortium BAAK is having executed by Takke Breukelen, an expert in this type of construction. Given the size, the rising prices of materials and the many interfaces with third-party structures and signaling devices, quite a task.

Takke Breukelen is responsible for the design, production and assembly of all edge elements. "It is a fairly sizeable project with over 2,600 linear meters of composite edge elements, of which 2,100 meters are executed as handrail elements with stainless steel safety screen, 700 meters of stainless steel edge elements with stainless steel safety screen and another 1,200 meters of noise barriers," says Jorn van Herwijnen, design manager at Takke Breukelen. "Because of the size and uncertainties in the market with regard to delivery times and material prices, BAAK paid a lot of attention to the design with us in order to achieve the most minimalistic and uniform end product possible, within all preconditions."

Sample

Takke Breukelen's edge elements are basically the final finish of the artworks. "Besides on the structures, our elements can also be found on a piece of sheet piling and partly on the concrete gaps between the structures," Van Herwijnen clarifies. "The big advantage for us here on the Blankenburg connection was that the design of the concrete had already been worked out in detail in 3D. A nice basis for us to build on with the design of the edge elements, of course also fully in 3D." To give BAAK, welstand and the architect a good idea of the final situation, Takke Breukelen made a test set-up of the edge elements at full size. "It was part of the design process, so that after agreement we could further develop the design for each artwork and start production."

1 type of edge element

In the end, Takke Breukelen managed to package all requirements and preconditions into one type of edge element. "However, the necessary optimizations were made per structure in order to tune the elements to the varying concrete heights and cant," says Van Herwijnen. "In addition, we had to deal with many third-party interfaces. For example, 14 signaling devices (matrix signs) were incorporated into the elements and we integrated the connection of light poles into the edge elements at 42 locations." The project is being implemented in phases by Takke Breukelen. "At the moment we are finalizing the last design details, while we are already in full production and assembly. The most exciting part is the assembly of the edge elements above the A15 during a road closure in April. It has to be done within that time frame. On the other hand, we have quite a lot of room to measure on this project. Usually we have to rely on drawings and can only take measurements a few weeks before assembly. That is not an issue here, because the concrete construction is already at an advanced stage in each case."