The Dutch directorate of public works (Rijkswaterstaat) will be strengthening eight steel bridges in the Netherlands to extend their lives with a minimum of 30 years.
All bridges concerned are large, landmark and fairly new. Their spans range from 100 to over 300 metres. They include cable-stayed, arched and beam-slab bridges spanning roads, rivers and railway lines in strategic traffic points of the Dutch highway network.
Arup, Royal Haskoning and Greisch have been appointed as a Managing Contractor for the works through a Cost Plus Incentive Fee contract. The new character of the contract rewards the team for achieving efficiency though working on all of the eight different bridges.
Arup's role as technical manager includes a wide range of activities including development of pre-inspection plans, 3D modelling of the existing structure and designing the local and global strengthening of the bridges. Arup is responsible for the technical tender documents including bridge specific drawings, for input and review of generic project specification, and for the choice of and dealings with the contractor.
The Bridge Group in Arup's Amsterdam office, led by Sander den Blanken, was set up in 2008. The rapidly growing team is working on a wide range of projects of which the renovation project is the largest. Other projects include the design of a new landmark pedestrian bridge and the design of a new vertical lift bridge for heavy traffic.