The Kieldrecht lock in the Waasland Harbour (formerly called Deurganckdok lock) is currently the largest lock in the world. At each lock head, 2 mixed railway and road bridges allowed traffic to continuously cross the lock. Cyclists and pedestrians could also cross the lock in this way. However, the existing bridges were intensively used and risked becoming insufficient in terms of capacity. By installing two additional road bridges, their capacity could be increased significantly.
SBE was responsible for the study and optimised design of the 2 additional bascule bridges, each with a span length of 76.6m. The fatigue and detail study was challenging and the SBE team was only too happy to draw on their expertise in this area. The design of the shrouding of the existing equipment room and the coordination with the dimensions of the steel construction was also quite a feat.
During the execution of the works, the contracting authority (Flemish Government – Antwerp Maritime Access Division) could count on the assistance of SBE throughout. The additional study work following implementation problems on the site was also carried out by SBE.
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