Construction temporary highway Oosterweel Link kicked off

On Monday February, 12, the joint venture ROCO*, which is in charge of a sub-project of the Oosterweel link, kicked off construction of the Bypass in the northeast of the Antwerp ring road. The Bypass is a temporary highway which will run along the Merksem Viaduct and which will accommodate traffic during the realisation of a sunken ring road. This will minimise traffic disruption.

Nuisance

The iconic Merksem Viaduct in the north of Antwerp opened in 1970, but caused increasingly more noise and polluted air throughout the years. That’s why the city of Antwerp has now decided to demolish it. It will be replaced by a sunken ring road, with traffic partly going underground. The ring road will be maximally covered, which will in turn frees space for new parks.

As traffic must be able to keep moving during the works, the teams of TM ROCO are first constructing a temporary motorway, the Bypass. This will keep traffic away from nearby residential areas and create a safe, predictable traffic situation.

The Bypass

The Bypass will be built in two parts. First, the temporary highway in the direction of the Netherlands will be built. When that stretch is in use by the end of 2025, TM ROCO will demolish a first part of the viaduct. Then, the Bypass will also be realised in the other direction of travel. By the end of 2026, that stretch will also be completed and a second part of the viaduct will be demolished. The Bypass will remain necessary until the end of the Oosterweel works.

Meanwhile, the first concrete girders for the Bypass have arrived at a terminal in the Port of Antwerp, where they will be temporarily stored until their placement later this year. A total of 915 girders will be used to build the Bypass. On average, each girder is 30 metres long and weighs 50 tonnes.

Jeroen Philtjens, Project Director TM ROCO: "We are pleased that after all the preparatory work, we can get ready to move forward in the coming years. Together with our client Lantis, but also with the residents living nearby the site, other authorities and partners, we are taking on this enormous challenge. ROCO is particularly proud to be part of the construction site of the century, which will transform Antwerp into a new, more liveable and more mobile City."

Electrical BESIX crane

Last November, a BESIX electric crane was successfully tested on TM ROCO's site. More specifically, it's the 50-tonne Sennebogen 653E, which was previously used in Rotterdam on the A16 project of the De Groene Boog joint venture.

The crane was used in the construction of a new approach ramp for the cycle bridge under the Merksem Viaduct. Unlike a diesel-powered crane, this electric crane does not require refuelling, allowing work to continue undisturbed. At night, the crane is then recharged with green electricity, making it operational again for the next working day.

The electric crane supports BESIX's objective of reducing CO2 emissions on its construction sites and participating in the energy transition by gradually electrifying its fleet. The company is currently looking at investing more in similar electric cranes and using the crane elsewhere on the Oosterweel Link project.

*TM ROCO is the team that is building the CanalTunnels under the Albert Canal and the sunken and covered R1. The consortium comprises the contractor companies BESIX, BESIX INFRA, Cordeel, DEME, Jan De Nul, Denys, Franki Construct, Van Laere and Willemen Infra.