The Antwerp ring road (R1) is notorious for serious traffic congestion. Because the ring road is incomplete and there are no alternative routes, there are long traffic jams here every day. The construction of the Oosterweel connection is a project to close the Antwerp ring road, thereby significantly improving accessibility to the city of Antwerp and the port, as well as the quality of life in and around Antwerp. This link is included in the Flemish government's Master Plan 2020: sixteen infrastructure projects with improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, ships, cars and freight transport. This internationally leading project includes sunken routes, various engineering structures and multiple tunnel structures. One of these tunnel structures is the Scheldt Tunnel.
Knowledge and experience
The Scheldt Tunnel is an important link in the Oosterweel connection and provides a crossing over the Scheldt. This tunnel is being built according to the 'sinking' principle. Thanks to our knowledge and experience in this field, with references such as the 2nd Coentunnel and, more recently, the Blankenburgertunnel, Hendriks bv was invited at an early stage by the TM COTU consortium, consisting of BESIX, Stadsbader Contractors, DEME Infra, DEME Dredging and Jan De Nul, to collaborate on the design and supply of the necessary formwork.
A good coffin is half the battle
After a process of detailed engineering and associated drawing work, which naturally had to take into account all applicable requirements, standards, intended work processes and planned construction time, this ultimately resulted in the award of the contract to supply all the formwork required for the construction of the tunnel elements. The various formwork components consist of a combination of floor formwork and mobile wall and deck formwork. These are designed in such a way that the formwork can be moved and positioned with relatively few personnel. For example, many moving parts are fully hydraulically driven. This allows a construction cycle of two weeks per complete set of floor, wall and deck formwork.
Colossal
The eight concrete tunnel elements required each measure approximately 42 x 160 m and weigh an estimated 60,000 tonnes. These tunnel elements are being constructed in a temporary construction dock in the port of Zeebrugge. To maximise construction efficiency, the client opted to use a double set of formwork. This allows for a double construction flow, parallel to each other in the construction dock. All the casings are now in place in the construction dock and the construction of the first two tunnel elements is already in full swing. Once all the tunnel elements are ready, the construction dock will be flooded and the elements will be floated one by one, checked and towed across the North Sea and the Western Scheldt to Antwerp, where they will be sunk. This is extremely precise work with such colossal elements, made even more challenging by the weather conditions and water currents. When completed, the tunnel will be 1.8 km long and divided into two lanes in each direction and a separate cycle tunnel. Thousands of road users will use it every day.
A leading project that we at Hendriks bv are particularly proud to be involved in.
Collaboration and trust
This excellent collaboration and the client's confidence in our expertise have now led to us being asked to design and supply the formwork for the entrance and exit ramps on the Linkeroever side in Antwerp for this project.
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