Traffic-safe traffic circle in Flushing prevents flooding

Anyone entering Vlissingen from the A58 will see a new infrastructure with roads, an underground bicycle tunnel and a spacious double-lane traffic circle. Through this new access, the Buitenhaven, Dockwize, the new Marine Barracks and the Souburg business park are easily and quickly accessible.

In order to improve accessibility, the area between the A58 freeway, outer harbor and railroad tracks underwent a major overhaul. Raymond Versloot, project manager for the Municipality of Vlissingen, was involved in this large-scale project from start to finish. He explains what the "job" entailed: 

"In 2016, we started preparing the land for construction. Because there is peat in the subsoil, we had to raise the site to prevent subsidence. It also turned out that there were old pipes, cables and ducts in the ground that had to be taken out to prevent breaks and holes in the new roads. It was a long construction process, but thanks to the new double-lane traffic circle, which is also suitable for heavy traffic, we now have better traffic flow and this part of Flushing is ready for the future." 

For proper drainage of the traffic circle, the Municipality of Flushing chose a curb and drainage system in one, the KerbDrain^® of ACO. "Because at ACO, they know what they're doing and they provide good products," Versloot said.

Preventing flooding

Pascal Feller, project manager at Arcadis, has been fully involved in the engineering of the infrastructure. To prevent as much as possible the double-lane traffic circle from flooding during heavy rainfall and compromising traffic safety, proper drainage is a requirement. Feller explains why. "A number of issues play an important role in the drainage of this traffic circle. For example, we have to deal with the fact that the traffic circle is skewed in terms of height. Moreover, it is a busy traffic circle that, in terms of road safety, is difficult to close off during maintenance and cleaning. Given the height difference, we would need many gullies at the lowest point to ensure proper drainage of rainwater. A drainage system with gullies seemed less reliable to us. Hence, we chose the ACO KerbDrain. When we want to use a line drainage system, the first thing I often think of is ACO. The ACO KerbDrain then turned out to be a very serviceable and applicable solution."

KerbDrain® made of sustainable recycled material

Sustainable solution

The ACO KerbDrain^® is a drainage system and kerb in one. Thanks to the many inlets on the side, the inlet capacity is many times greater than when using gullies and the incoming water does not have to travel a long way. An absolute advantage from the point of view of traffic safety. Marcel Sierevogel, account manager at ACO, explains, "Because the rainwater is drained quickly and efficiently, the chance of puddles forming is very minimal. A big advantage for the Municipality of Vlissingen is that relatively little maintenance needs to be carried out on the drainage system."

The ACO KerbDrain^® is made of polymer concrete as standard. For Flushing, the extra durable variant Vienite^® supplied. Vienite^® is a new polymer-based recycled material containing consumer waste and recycled glass. The product also meets all requirements in terms of high-quality flexural and compressive strength. Like polymer concrete, Vienite^® recyclable and can be collected, processed and returned for reuse as raw material.