Mammoet has commenced work on a major bridge replacement project at Amsterdam Centraal Station in the Netherlands, having been involved in the work since 2021.
Four steel railway bridges plus with one concrete bridge are to be replaced on the east side of the rail hub. A critical aspect of the project will be to minimise disruption to commuters. As part of these efforts, almost all the operation is taking place on water, with one bridge replaced every year from now until 2028.
The bridge upgrades are part of the wider High-Frequency Rail Transport (PHS) programme, which involves track optimisations, infrastructure adjustments and construction work inside the station building. “We came up with the approach to install the bridges on water to limit transport movements and disruption in the city centre,” said Leo de Vette, project manager at Mammoet. “This makes it a complex operation because space is limited and there are many steps that must be carefully managed. Every change you make influences something else, and that is a major challenge for this project.”
Working alongside Dutch engineering company Dura Vermeer, Mammoet will support the load-out, transportation, and installation of the three sections that make up each bridge. The components measure 24 m and 28 m in length and weigh 173 tonnes and 275 tonnes, respectively.
The bridge sections, being fabricated by Hollandia, will be shipped to the Oostertoegang part of the station on flattop barges, with the main installation barge being partly submerged in the water using copper pontoons weighed with water so that people can still pass underneath a low footbridge.
Placed on a temporary bridge, a 90-tonne mobile crane will remove the pontoons from the barge and replace them with Mammoet’s SPMTs. The company’s Mega Jack 300 system will lift the bridge sections up to 4 m on the deck, so that a support frame can be placed underneath using the SPMTs.
After this, the SPMTs will rotate the bridge sections 90 degrees. Then, they will drive them off the barge, across steel mats, and onto support towers.
For each bridge, Mammoet will install the east side section first, then the west and lastly the middle section.
“This renovation project will allow more trains to operate from the station and accommodate the growth in passenger numbers,” added Martin de Ruijter, project manager at Duma Vermeer.
