Pien Niehe
Europe Press Office,Amsterdam
The renovated Galecopper Bridge has been reopened by Minister Melanie Schulz van Haegen (infrastructure and environment).
The joint venture Royal HaskoningDHV/Arup/Greisch was responsible for the design, licensing, contract documents for the contractor, project management and project supervision.
The increased traffic had caused fatigue in the steel construction and the steel bridge deck, which has been resolved with this renovation. An important objective was to limit the disruption for road traffic and shipping during the project. The bridge has been strengthened and raised in order to allow more vessels with bigger cargo to be able to pass through, extending the bridge’s life expectancy with at least another 30 years.
“‘The road network is the artery of our economy. I am proud we were able to make a substantial contribution to its improvement, same as with the bridge renovations we will be delivering next.’ Sander den Blanken, Managing Director, Arup Netherlands
The renovation of Galecopper Bridge is part of a major renovation programme for several steel bridges in the Netherlands, due to the effects of increased road traffic. The innovative renovation methods, which were implemented in this project, have been developed and are now also successfully applied to other steel bridge renovations.