Award-winning construction combination improves traffic flow in Eindhoven

The first phase of the overall project 'Road structure Brainport Park - Anthony Fokkerweg' is as good as completed by construction combination Ploegam - Dura Vermeer. The construction team has its origins in another combination work in this region, the capacity increase of the N279.

Ploegam and Dura Vermeer have had a cooperation agreement for many years. "We seek each other out again and again to realize great projects," says Kees Smaling of Dura Vermeer. "This was the case for the first phase of the Road Structure Brainport Park - A. Fokkerweg, a project that was put on the market by the Municipality of Eindhoven in a construction team context. This means that in the design phase of the project there is already a cooperation between the builder and the client. We as a combination therefore had a facilitating interest. We had to ensure that the design was supported by all parties and really operated as a team in order to manage all interfaces."

Cooperation and trust

The scope of the construction consortium includes the widening of the viaduct over the Beatrix Canal, the construction of a bicycle tunnel and the adjustments of the road structure of the Anthony Fokkerweg, including the realization of a new connection of the Anthony Fokkerweg to the N2. Smaling: "To enable the widening of the Anthony Fokkerweg, the bicycle path had to give way. This led to the construction of a new bicycle bridge Tegenbosch, which was entered in August. For (moped) cyclists and pedestrians, Tegenbosch is now the connection between the two sides of the A2/N2. Meanwhile, road traffic also benefits from the widening of the viaduct and extra lanes on the Fokkerweg. To make the project a success, a good start is one of the most important components. What do you expect from each other as construction team partners? It comes down to cooperation, trust and respecting each other's interests, both ours as a construction team and those of the client, the Municipality of Eindhoven."

Additional requirements

Despite the "casual" cooperation, the project did suffer delays. "That had to do with the fact that the municipality only inserted part of the project into the tender at the last minute," explains Joris Bevaart of Ploegam. "It is inherent in this way of working together. The client has all the freedom to fine-tune the design. In this case, the architect submitted a completely new design for the bicycle bridge, resulting in a doubling of the bridge's weight and thus the costs. Rijkswaterstaat also set additional requirements for the screen to keep stone-throwers out and Signify was 'flown in' at the last minute for an additional lighting plan as part of Eindhoven Lichtstad. So the Municipality of Eindhoven needed some time to free up additional budget. A conscious choice, because for all other matters we as a construction team stayed neatly within budget. Through good mutual coordination, the municipality even got more than anticipated, such as a higher quality bicycle tunnel."

As a construction consortium, we had a facilitating interest in this project, Bevaart summarizes. "That led to the municipality of Eindhoven getting the most optimal result for 99.9%, and also in a socially responsible way. The complexity in the tender was also in the choices in terms of phasing; fast with a lot of disruption or long-term with little disruption. In close consultation with the environment and stakeholders such as Eindhoven Airport and the Flight Forum, we opted for 'short hits' and closed off one of the main traffic arteries completely for ten days instead of three months in phases. That worked out well and also enabled us to work safely."