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The widening of the A2 between the Het Vonderen and Kerensheide interchanges is not only a civil engineering megaproject, but also an ambitious green project. Along the 18-kilometer stretch, a green corridor that connects the landscape, ecology and quality of life will be realized step by step over the next few years. Long before the first shovel was put into the ground, Jos Kanters Groenvoorziening had already notified its growers about growing the right size of trees. “After all, 8,000 seriously sized trees are not just available tomorrow,” says business office manager Willem van der Heijden.
Jos Kanters Groenvoorziening is responsible for all planting along the A2 motorway. The basis for this cooperation with Boskalis was laid earlier for project N69. “The good experiences there and the large proportion of greenery in this tender meant that we were approached again,” Van der Heijden knows. “We take care of all planting around the A2. From trees and shrubs to forest plants, sowing the verges and aftercare. In short, everything that grows along the highway. We plant until the end of 2029. After that, we will also take care of maintenance.”
The planting is phased and runs along with Boskalis“ schedule. ”Each year a new part of the route will be greened instead of all at once at the end of the project,“ says Van der Heijden. ”That means there will be visible results early on. In 2024, the first 176 trees were planted, and this planting season another 585 will be added and 6,517 pieces of forest planting. In the end, we are planting 8,000 trees, mostly in substantial sizes of 18-20, 20-25 and even 25-30 centimeters. Such numbers and tree sizes are exceptional within infrastructure projects."
In addition to trees, Jos Kanters Groenvoorziening will also take care of the phased planting of approximately 70,290 pieces of forest plants, consisting of shrubs from 80 to 125 centimeters high, and 42,973 hedges and climbing plants. The green company will also soon take charge of sowing roadsides on both sides of the road, accounting for a total of 36 kilometers of roadside. “In the first contract year, we also revitalized the existing woodland vegetation by removing unwanted or poorly growing trees and shrubs, giving valuable species more room to develop.”
For Jos Kanters Groenvoorziening, the scope expansion with the construction of additional fauna passages across the A2 meant additional planting compared to the initial assignment. “For the fauna passages, we found a creative solution to still maintain the green corridor outside the planting season. At structure 16, for example, the fauna passage is not ready when the gopher bat comes out of hibernation. By placing the planting in mobile stacking crates on the existing artwork, the green corridor is preserved, and we can transfer and plant the planting on the final artwork at a later stage,” Van der Heijden explains.
All trees and plants are sourced from the Netherlands. “By starting preparations as early as 2023, our growers are able to grow up to the right sizes in a targeted manner,” says Van der Heijden. “Moreover, in cooperation with Boskalis and the landscape architects of the VERBEEK agency, careful consideration was given to soil quality, species choice and ecological added value for the area in question. By analyzing soil samples per planting section and improving and blending existing soil where possible, unnecessary transports are avoided.” And so in Limburg, not only is a new piece of asphalt rising up, but also a robust green corridor that permanently enriches the landscape.
