Bolt cutter from landscaping company Hol spotted on the A1

Rijkswaterstaat has the ambition of working in a circular way by 2030, i.e. without waste and with the reuse of raw materials. Hoveniersbedrijf Hol is already anticipating this and has developed the bolt cutter, designed to quickly and efficiently dismantle existing guide rail and remove it for reuse. The machine was recently used successfully again in the widening of the A1 motorway between Apeldoorn and Twello, a project being carried out circularly by Heijmans.

Roadside maintenance is an important pillar at Hoveniersbedrijf Hol, in addition to maintaining corporate and private gardens. "We provide verge maintenance for parties such as the Department of Public Works and major infrastructure contractors throughout the country," says Johan Hol who, together with his brother Lennart, took over the company from his parents two years ago. "We understand verge maintenance to include all ground work along public roads, such as backfilling and seeding the verge, as well as repairing and dismantling guide rail."

Hels chore

The widening of the A1 motorway between Apeldoorn and Twello is being carried out as sustainably and circularly as possible. Materials such as concrete, asphalt, guide rails and sheet piling will be harvested, separated, processed and reused. "But manually dismantling guide rails is a hell of a job," Lennart Hol knows from experience. "Because in order to dismantle guide rail, a large number of bolted connections have to be loosened. And that is by no means always done wholeheartedly. Moreover, it is also a considerable physical effort to manually stack the guide rail planks." It should also be possible to do this mechanically, Lennart thought at one point, and he developed the bolt cutter.

Added value

After a year and a half of drawing, development, trial and improvement, the bolt cutter was a reality. "And with success," Lennart says with appropriate pride. Heijmans is also enthusiastic. "After a short demonstration, they were immediately convinced of the added value of our machine. So we were initially asked to assist on the A28 and now also in two phases on the A1. In one shift we managed to dismantle and stack more than 1 kilometer of guardrail, without having to make heavy physical efforts. Moreover, we do not break a plank, because we only cut the eight pieces of bolts every 4 meters. That makes it possible to reuse the existing guide rail for at least 95%."

Heijmans is very pleased with the use of the bolt cutter from Hoveniersbedrijf Hol. "The boards are delivered to Heijmans' Refo Factory and then inspected, de-galvanized and re-galvanized for reuse," Johan explains. "And so the circle is complete again." By the way, also for Hoveniersbedrijf Hol. The company is now developing a similar cutter for Heijmans, not as an attachment on a mobile crane, but for placement in their Refo Factory.