ANP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
Major work on the Nelson Mandela Bridge at Zoetermeer will begin tonight: the bridge has construction defects, which means it needs to be partly demolished. As a result, the A12 motorway near Zoetermeer will be closed in both directions from 10pm for more than three days, until Saturday morning.
The bridge itself, which connects the city to Zoetermeer station, has been closed since the beginning of this month as it is about to collapse. The construction consists of four concrete bridge beams, which rest on pillars with a kind of tooth. Three of the four beams have large cracks in those teeth. If they break, the entire section of the bridge, including the roof, could collapse.
This is why part of the bridge is supported by a metal construction, but this is not possible for the part above the A12 due to lack of space. This is lifted with the roof and all from the rest of the bridge and dismantled next to the road. An emergency bridge made of steel without a cover will be placed in the hole. “A monster job in a crisis situation,” as project manager Erik Alink describes it.
One million kilos
The bridge has already been detached at the sides. In the coming days, the section of the bridge will, as it were, be grabbed by trolleys “with a whole mountain of steel on it,” says councilor Marijke van der Meer. “They go under it and lift the part that needs to be removed a little more. This allows them to move it to the side, where an area has already been fully prepared. Then four cranes come and hold it as the cars drive out from underneath. of it. and then they drop it there.”
A heavy burden on the road, as the bridge section weighs 800 tons and the bogies together 200 tons. “At some point, a million kilos will travel on the A12,” says Van der Meer. The road must be closed to prepare for this. “It has to be reinforced. It has to have plates on it, so it’s a lot of work.”
She calls it exciting if everything works out as planned and is ready on time. The A12 is due to reopen on Saturday at 8am. Until then, traffic from Utrecht to The Hague will be diverted onto the A4 and from The Hague to Utrecht onto the A20. Trains have not stopped at Zoetermeer station since the beginning of December, train passengers can use Zoetermeer-Oost station.
