Design and construction of a large railway bridge in a complex traffic junction

To enable widening of the highway A1, a new, large double track railway bridge is being constructed near Amsterdam in The Netherlands. This new structure is part of the SAA project, a large infrastructural project that aims to increase road capacity of the Schiphol-Amsterdam- Almere corridor, to alleviate the current traffic congestion and improve the environmental quality of the area.

The superstructure comprises a steel arch bridge with a diagonal hanger configuration. With a span length of 255m, the bridge is considered to be the largest railway arch bridge in Europe. Because of the required necessity to minimise the hindrance of the road and railway traffic, the erection of the bridge has proven to be the most challenging aspect during the design process. Important design starting points are defined in consultation with the steel contractor during the preliminary design. Steel grade S460, with high client requirements for the material properties, is chosen because of limitations of the bridge weight during transport and installation.

This paper aims to give insight into the design process, the approach to determine the optimal erection methods and the design choices to reach a sustainable bridge with minimal noise emission in favour of the residents.