Elevating from 1984 to 2019 in Zaltbommel

At Zaltbommel station, since 1984, travelers have been treated to the presence of two elevators, entirely to the design of architect Van der Gaast. In their original state, the elevators consisted of a closed, concrete shaft, around which a staircase winds. The elevators were in need of replacement, taking into account the requirements of the present time.

The elevator renovation was put out to tender by ProRail and was carried out by Knipscheer Rail-Infra. Arjan Beens, business manager at Knipscheer Rail-Infra, explains how this was done. "An important aspect for the new elevators was to increase social safety whereby characteristic architecture of the time had to be taken into account. Transparency was the key word here," says Beens.

A visual kaleidoscopic spectacle
"Applying an elevator constructed entirely of glass was not possible. The reason for this was the fact that the stairs circling the elevator shaft are an integral part of the concrete shaft. For this reason, a glass elevator car was chosen, with cutouts in the concrete elevator shaft," Beens explains. "The glass elevator itself (and the associated technology) was not supplied by Knipscheer, but we did provide the coordination for it. The design and execution of the structural modifications did come from our hand."

The roof has been changed to include a daylight dome.

Everything was done entirely according to the architectural plan drawn up by architect Peter Heideman and is described as a "visual kaleidoscopic spectacle. Beens: "The roof has been changed and given a daylight dome. The plunger push system to operate the elevator has given way to a winch system at the top of the shaft. Thanks in part to the white stucco on the inside of the elevator shaft, the cutouts and the daylight dome, daylight now reaches all levels. The staircase has been retained. In terms of work, we can say it was 'a renovation with the store open'; throughout the project, travelers were able to use the stairs as usual." All in all, the project was quite an investment. "Given the end result, we can safely say that it was more than worth the investment," Beens says in conclusion.