Rebuilding iconic Gevlebrug Amsterdam requires multidisciplinary collaboration

The nearly 100-year-old Gevlebrug in Amsterdam, designed by famed Amsterdam School architect Piet Kramer, has been given a new purpose after a thorough renovation.

"A special project," Sjoerd Bakkum calls it. On behalf of Gebr. Beentjes, he is responsible for the project. Gebr. Beentjes has been active in the GWW for nearly sixty years and works mostly on multidisciplinary projects with concrete and steel. "But the combination with natural stone makes it extra special for us."

Monumental materials

"The entire project was built entirely around reusing the existing monumental materials," Bakkum continued. The original bridge was installed in 1930 but had to be replaced. The municipality definitely wanted to preserve the characteristic bridge for the city, but the bridge spent almost 20 years in a storage yard in the Amsterdam harbor. "Unused and not maintained ... and all that time exposed to the weather. That, of course, had a detrimental effect on the materials." 

Bakkum explains what he found: "The wooden top was pretty rotten and needed to be replaced, but the frame still looked pretty good. The steel had to be completely stripped of its coating and repaired where necessary. Quite a job." The restoration was carried out by Niron Staal Amsterdam BV and Fa. Evenboer, commissioned by Gebr. Beentjes.

The 100-year-old natural stone lies expertly cleaned, in the yard of Meesters In, prior to restoration. (Image: Mattias Boon, Meesters In)

Natural stone

The natural stone of the original bridge, a granite, appeared to be mostly in good condition. "Sometimes missing or damaged, so new material was needed for that. We found a quarry where the material was the same in structure and cross-section as the original granite of the bridge. Virtually indistinguishable from the existing material! To firm Meesters In the clean task of invisibly restoring the blocks of the bridge."

"Something 100 years old, which has been exposed to all the elements for 20 years, has been restored within six months to a state that will certainly allow it to last another 30 years. We are all proud of that." Sjoerd Bakkum, Gebr. Beentjes

Convergence of disciplines

"In a project like this, with a monumental character, where different disciplines come together, working together ensures that a fantastic end result can be achieved," says Bakkum. "You have to coordinate everything well: not only within the disciplines, but especially between them. The new natural stone has to fit between the old, the new steel has to fit on the old and the whole has to fit again on the concrete realized by Gebr. Beentjes." He concludes, "Only when all parties, in addition to their own scope, attach importance to the overall project, is an optimal final result achievable."