CONSTUCTION & REFURBISHMENT OF 8 BRIDGES
On 15 July 2010, Mercon Steel Structures and KWS Infra have been awarded the construction and refurbishment contract for the KARGO bridge project by the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management.
KARGO is an abbreviation of “Kunstwerken Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal Groot Onderhoud” meaning large maintenance on bridges in the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal area.
The contract values EUR 87 million and encompasses extensive refurbishment of the following eight steel arch bridges which were all built in the period 1937 until 1976.
• Amsterdam bridge
• Weesper bridge
• Loenersloot bridge
• Breukelen bridge
• Juthphase bridge
• Schalkwijk bridge
• Buiten-IJ bridge
• Overeind bridge
The aim is to bring all bridges up to today’s standards. Some of the bridges will be completely renewed. In several cases even a temporary 140m long bridge will be built to minimize congestion. Furthermore all bridges will be jacked up several inches to facilitate 4-level container shipment which will be one of the key improvements.
Next to competitive pricing, quality, safety and experience, minimizing congestion for both waterway and road traffic was a key factor in the award of the contract. The combination Mercon-KWS offered extensive experience in the building of new bridges such as the High Speed Train bridge (HSL) built by Mercon and the renovation of the Haringvliet bridge by KWS Infra.
The work is planned from Q3-2010 until Q4-2016.