On August 22, 2024, Rijkswaterstaat and six engineering and consultancy firms signed the Covenant for the Bureau of Structural Recalculations for Bridges & Viaducts. Within this bureau, Rijkswaterstaat, the six engineering firms, and knowledge institutes (including TNO) collaborate as equals to reassess the durability of 50 fixed steel bridges, 40 movable bridges, and 240 concrete bridges or viaducts.
Many bridges and viaducts in the Netherlands were constructed in the decades following World War II. Today, they endure significantly heavier and more frequent traffic than they were originally designed for. Additionally, old safety standards have been replaced by new regulations based on current insights. As a result, these bridges and viaducts need to be reassessed for their structural safety and to determine whether they are approaching the end of their technical lifespan. To address this, in February 2024, Rijkswaterstaat signed three framework agreements with the engineering and consultancy firms Antea Group/Boorsma, Arcadis/SBE, Royal HaskoningDHV, Witteveen+Bos, and the consortiums Arup, Iv & Wagemaker, and Sweco Nederland & Nebest.
Getting to know and understand each other
The goal of Rijkswaterstaat and the six firms is to collectively increase the number of recalculations, enhance the quality of these recalculations, and expand knowledge on recalculating the durability of bridges and viaducts. The Covenant for the Bureau of Structural Recalculations, signed on August 22, 2024, formalizes these objectives. The Bureau is already in full operation, with employees from the engineering firms and Rijkswaterstaat collaborating on recalculations at the Rijkswaterstaat offices in Utrecht. Roel van Pelt, project manager of the Bridge & Viaduct Recalculation Program at Rijkswaterstaat, commented, “To make the Bureau of Structural Recalculations a success, it’s crucial to take the time to truly get to know and understand each other in this new way of working together. This can be quite challenging, especially as the number of recalculations increases significantly.”
Pooling specialized calculation expertise
Martin Wijnen, Director-General of Rijkswaterstaat, is enthusiastic about the collaboration. “With the Bureau of Structural Recalculations, we will be pooling the specialized calculation expertise of numerous engineering firms, knowledge institutes, and infrastructure managers across the country in the coming years. Together, we will tackle the recalculations of the lifespan of our bridges and viaducts more effectively and efficiently. The knowledge we gain from this will be shared with the entire road and water engineering sector, providing us with a powerful new tool to accelerate and professionalize infrastructure maintenance in the coming years.”
Cherishing Existing Structures
Other signatories of the covenant also applaud the collaboration within the Bureau of Structural Recalculations. Wouter van der Wiel, representing the Arup, Iv & Wagemaker consortium, emphasized, “We must cherish our existing structures.” Niek Joustra from Royal HaskoningDHV described the covenant as a crucial step towards keeping the Netherlands accessible and livable. “In this unique and extensive collaboration, the challenge is at the forefront. We are connecting knowledge and available resources, developing smarter solutions, and enhancing both productivity and job satisfaction.”
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