The sail in of the new Schellingwouder arch bridge took less than 20 minutes last Sunday 17 June 2012. Never before such a speedy bridge placement occurred.
First the 55 year old predecessor was lifted and sailed away. The new steel arch bridge was already lying in the river “IJ” since 7 June (ahead of project schedule) after the load out two days earlier. The sail in of the bridge went extremely swift. Therefore 2.5 hours earlier than planned, the bridge opened again for road traffic. The complete operation took less than 46 hours.
The 107m long and 850 tonnes weighing new bridge made a spectacular trip from Mercon’s yard in Gorinchem over the
North Sea before it found its final destination in Amsterdam.
The replacement of the Schellingwouder bridge is the first in a series of replacements and refurbishments of eight steel arch bridges which form part of the KARGO project. KARGO which means ‘’Kunstwerken Amsterdam Rijnkanaal Groot Onderhoud’’ is a € 90 mln project awarded to Mercon and KWS in 2010 by the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. In March, the vehicle deck and locking device of the Schellingwouder bascule bridge were already replaced.
Mercon and KWS won the KARGO project as they offered the smartest and most cost effective approach towards replacement and refurbishment with minimal hinder for water and road traffic.