GEWI piles for Blankenburg Connection

BAUER Funderingstechniek is installing GEWI micropiles with threads as part of Rotterdam’s new 4km-long A24 highway that includes two tunnels under the Scheur River
June 17, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
BAUER is installing the deepest GEWI piles in the Netherlands to date

The work by BAUER Funderingstechniek - the Dutch subsidiary of German parent firm BAUER Spezialtiefbau - is for the Blankeburgverbinding (Blankenburg Connection) tunnel project west of the city between the A15 and A20 highways.

Rotterdam, with a population of around 650,000, is the second largest city in the Netherlands and Europe's largest seaport, making it an important freight transport hub. The Blankenburg Connection will relieve truck and general traffic congestion.

BAUER has been delivering GEWI material to the site since July 2019 and by May is due to have installed 4,500 piles. But preliminary pile load tests were conducted in 2018 to investigate the primary friction properties of the three soil strata at the site. Soft clay, followed by firm clay and medium-dense to dense layers of sand were detected down to a depth of up to 20m.

The design of the GEWI piles for the tunnel ramps was adjusted based on the results of the pile load tests. Installation of the pile foundation for the southern ramp of the future 30m-deep Maas Delta Tunnel began last summer.

"In total, 11 teams with 11 KLEMM KR 806 rigs are currently being used in the joint project with our partner De Vries Titan," said Maarten Daalmeijer, project manager at BAUER Funderingstechniek. "This way we are sure to keep to the tight schedule.”

BAUER is installing the deepest GEWI piles in the Netherlands to date. Penetration of 64m below the NAP (Normaal Amserdams Peil - Amsterdam Ordnance Datum) -  a height reference point for the Amsterdam water level.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tunnels eliminate bottlenecks
    February 10, 2012
    Some of the bottlenecks on the multi-lane Mittlere Ring, Munich, Germany, one of the main arterial roads circling the city centre have been eliminated by the addition of new tunnels. The Luise-Kiesselbach Square, the last section of this road improvement effort, is an important traffic hub south-west of the city where motorways A96 from Lindau and A5 from Garmisch meet, causing long delays in daily rush-hour traffic, writes Patrick Smith.
    Read More
  • Diamond in the Pearl: China’s Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge complex
    March 8, 2018
    People in the Pearl River Delta are celebrating the Chinese New Year with the imminent opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. David Arminas reviews progress. China’s Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is celebrated with the usual enthusiasm and spectacular fireworks. But celebrations will be particularly joyous for many people in the southern Pearl River Delta. The soon-to-be-open Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) will slash travel time between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Zhuh
    Read More
  • Wirtgen machines at Beijing’s new airport
    June 10, 2019
    Slipform pavers from Wirtgen have played important roles for the Beijing New International Airport project. The four Wirtgen slipform pavers have been used for the construction of the apron area for the new Chinese airport.
    Read More
  • Underground routes for highways
    July 20, 2012
    Increasingly, and where possible, roads are being built in tunnels often for environmental reasons, writes Patrick Smith As part of the new M7 motorway development in the southwest of Ireland, the four-lane route crosses the River Shannon near Limerick, before it flows into the Atlantic. Centrepiece of the 10km long Limerick Southern Ring Road is the required tunnelling (675m long), which including the north and south entrance and exit ramps, means it will be 915m long. Completion of the work is planned for
    Read More

Highlighted Content