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Building a safe dyke together
Keeping the Netherlands safe and dry. That is the aim of the national High Water Protection Programme, in which more than 1,500 kilometres of dykes are being reinforced. One of those dykes is the Rijnkade in Arnhem. This dyke reinforcement is in the hands of construction consortium SAMEN, a collaboration between Van der Ven, Ballast Nedam and Hakkers. Commissioned by the Rijn and IJssel Water Board and the municipality of Arnhem, we are ensuring that the Rijnkade will last for another 100 years.
Nearly all the construction equipment we use on site is fully electric, as well as the piper truck that brings the materials from the land hub to the quay. This reduces CO2 emissions as well as noise pollution.
Because we are working in the middle of the city, we face additional safety and accessibility challenges. That is why we first tackle the low quay and the retaining wall. This will be followed by the high quay, which we will work on in small sections. This way, local residents are inconvenienced as little as possible.
We supply almost all concrete work by water from our water hub. That saves a lot of transport movements through Arnhem city centre. We also have a land hub, where for instance the manholes, sewage pipes and paving stones come from. From this land hub, we always leave with a full truck so that we have to drive up and down as little as possible.
Precast concrete work can be assembled on the quay right from the water. So we hardly need to pour concrete on site. This allows us to complete the job faster and cleaner. The reuse of existing materials also plays a major role. For instance, we will reuse the stones, the basalt lining of the current barrier and about 5,500 cubic metres of sand. If everything goes according to plan, Arnhem's Rijnkade will be ready for the future in 2025.
Managing Director Ballast Nedam Infra Projects a.i.