Well informed, even underground

The reconstruction of Groningen's southern ring road is a demanding and dynamic project, with the need for robust and flexible total scaffolding solutions. These must meet the diverse requirements of road and bridge structures, and other infrastructure works. The Gjaltema Group brought its expertise to bear to keep the project on track and, above all, safe.

As a market leader in scaffolding construction and support structures in the northern provinces of the Netherlands, Gjaltema is the reliable partner for the complex challenges of a project such as the Ring South in Groningen. Founded in 1979, the company has decades of experience that for the ring project came into the hands of project leader Harry van Dam, a man for whom the custom work required in scaffolding construction holds no secrets. It is not uncommon for the services of Gjaltema, which cleverly positions itself in the market with the slogan "Well informed," to be used for long-term projects. But the four-year-long Aanpak Ring Zuid is surely one of the bigger jobs in the company's history. "We are also proud that as a Groningen company we were able to make such a fine contribution to this. Safety, flexibility, professionalism, reliability and job satisfaction are the core values of our family business," said Age Nauta, company manager at Gjaltema. 

36 trucks with scaffolding

Because the new south ring is sunken at the level of the Oosterpoort neighborhood and De Linie, specific support solutions were needed during construction to ensure the guaranteed progress of the works without loss of quality. "We started with edge protections for the various works, then it developed step by step into a total project, from formwork support to stair towers," says Harry and continues: "To give you an idea of the size: when constructing the tunnels, at one point we brought in 36 trucks of scaffolding material. The works fell into four major clusters: the first was at the City Park, where, among other things, we erected scaffolding with canopy construction for the contractor to work with the stone facade. Cluster two was the project around Freedom Square, for which we mainly provided scaffolding to braid the walls. The biggest subproject for us was the third cluster, which included the tunnel works, for which we provided all the associated support. The fourth cluster involved maintenance work and new construction. The first required shielded scaffolding for blasting work, the second for stairwells." 

Tighter timing

"For the stone strip finish on the various artworks, we also assembled the necessary scaffolding, including weather protection and roofing," Age adds. As a company, Gjaltema was able to put its expertise to good use. Thus, the scaffolder keeps everything in-house: from calculation, work preparation to safety experts. Age: "We naturally also take care of the safety supervision and re-inspections of the scaffolding and support structures, so that everything runs as safely as possible. Our staff is carefully trained for these inspections. We also do the drawing and calculation of the scaffolding and support structures completely in-house. This creates short lines of communication which saves time in preparation." 

Being active in all sectors of construction, Gjaltema can also perfectly identify the specific solutions for the infra sector. "Infra projects are more dynamic because the process is often faster. The scaffolding for concrete works requires a flexible and efficient approach, but for that we can use our years of experience and expertise," says Age. Harry adds: "There are always deadlines, but in the case of infrastructure works they are tighter resulting in more weekend work. Which, by the way, is not a problem." Except for some support for the completion work, Gjaltema has pretty much completed the Aanpak Ring Zuid project, making it ready for commissioning at the end of September.