Construction—EMEA—Netherlands—Bridges
The ARK Bridge: DYWIDAG Strand Tendons contribute to Amsterdam’s
largest Infrastructure Project
A huge infrastructural project is currently under construction in the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. The SAA Project
(Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere Project) will improve the motorway network between Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport and
the city of Almere, which is located east of Amsterdam. The total length of the project is 63km, and in addition to new
lanes and motorway sections, the project includes a tunnel, an aqueduct and approximately 100 bridge structures.
Construction work started in 2012 and is scheduled for completion in 2026.
One of the major structures in this project is
the ARK Bridge that accommodates the new
motorway section crossing the Amsterdam
– Rhine Channel. The Joint Venture SAA one
submitted proposals for several structures that
are being built within the scope of this major
project. The Joint Venture was awarded the
contract for the ARK Bridge because it made
the most attractive DBFMF-proposal (Design,
Build, Finance, and Maintain) for this bridge.
The design had to provide sufficient clearance
for container and cargo ships which frequently
travel on this important channel connecting
Amsterdam with various German cities along
the River Rhine. of 284m. The structures have main spans
of 142m and side spans of 71m each.
The northern and the southern bridges are
double cell box girders with 20.9m respectively
17.6m wide bridge decks. The middle bridge
is a single cell box girder with an 11.25m wide
bridge deck.
The ARK Bridge consists of 3 parallel concrete
hollow box girder bridges with a total length In order to limit the construction time of the
bridge superstructure, 3 sets of form travellers
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The bridges were built using the balanced free
cantilever construction method. The first 7
segments on both sides of the hammer heads
are 4m long, and the following segments
are 5m long. The depth of the bridge varies
between 6.25m at the pylons to 2.75m in the
middle of the main span.
were used for an almost simultaneous erection
of the segments at the 3 pylons. On average,
the bridge segments were erected in a
weekly cycle. First of all, the reinforcement
and post-tensioning tendons were installed.
After pouring the C70/85 concrete, the
transverse and longitudinal Post-Tensioning
tendons were stressed. Subsequently,
the form travellers were moved to the next
position, and the formwork was prepared for
the next cycle. The DYWIDAG Tendons were
stressed a day after the concrete was cast.
DSI Netherlands assisted SAAone in the
final planning phase for post-tensioning and
supplied, installed, tensioned and grouted
the DYWIDAG Post-Tensioning Tendons in
all bridges.