Versatile in steel structures for civil engineering

When you think of traffic portals, you think of GS Birkhoff Staalwerken. The Oude-Tonge-based company already has quite a few portals to its name and is increasingly focusing on reuse with its race portals. The hydraulic engineering sector also appreciates the added value of GS Birkhoff Staalwerken. For example, the company is currently putting the finishing touches to a special gripper for the installation of wind turbines at sea and to all kinds of components for the zinc tunnel in the Oosterweel connection.

GS Birkhoff Steelworks' services go far beyond simply providing a steel structure. "We are a player that likes to think along in design or in bridging temporary situations. Solution-oriented thinking along with our clients is what makes us happy, going beyond the standard," says director Henk van den Ochtend. "We actually do everything in steel, except hall construction, which we like to leave to our parent organization GS Staalwerken." GS Birkhoff Staalwerken is also a renowned name in the petrochemical and offshore industries.

Road construction

GS Birkhoff Staalwerken makes beautiful "specials" for many an infrastructure project. Van den Ochtend refers, among other things, to the 84.5-meter-long traffic gantry on the A9 and the many challenges with all kinds of temporary situations, as well as the extra-long gantries above the A1 on the Apeldoorn - Azelo section. "On this project, we realized no less than 35 traffic portals in a time frame of barely six months, the majority of which were reno portals. We were responsible for the complete picture, from engineering to (de)assembly. And this is also how we worked for the reconstruction of the De Nieuwe Meer interchange and the new southern ring road in the city of Groningen. Here again we had to deal with very special solutions, with some portals being incorporated into a noise barrier. In Groningen, we even developed a special support structure that rests on the substructure of a work of art, some 6 meters lower."

Hydraulics

Our southern neighbors also make grateful use of GS Birkhoff Steelworks' expertise. "For example, at the Oosterweel connection in Antwerp we also have a nice project," says Van den Ochtend. "For the zinc tunnel, among other things, we are making the zinc joint frames, clamp strips, headboard doors and lifting points that they use to sink and steer the tunnel elements. In addition, we are now finalizing a so-called gripper that will be placed on a work vessel for positioning the monopile foundation of a wind turbine at sea. Here too we are responsible for the complete picture, from the design and engineering of the gripper to production." It's an impressive piece of "equipment," when you consider that the monopile foundation has a diameter of 9 to 10 meters!

The above is just a sampling of the many projects GS Birkhoff Steelworks is contributing to. "In any case, it shows our versatility," emphasizes Van den Ochtend, who sees the order book filling up nicely. "We have some great projects coming up again."