One of the phases of the Oosterweel project will see 1,000 50-ton beams transported between the port of Antwerp and Merksem to create a temporary five-kilometre bypass
Dossier
Impressive construction: Five-kilometre-long temporary bypass in Antwerp
Lisa Bradshaw
Published:
Earlier this week late in evening, a special transport vehicle carried the first of some 1,000 50-ton cement beams from the port of Antwerp to the Merksem viaduct. It heralded the next phase of an impressive public works project that will see a temporary motorway built alongside the viaduct as the viaduct itself will be demolished.
The demolition of the viaduct is part of the Oosterweel project in Antwerp, a major public works program that will connect the city’s ring road to the Oosterweel junction in the southern port area. It includes a new motorway tunnel under the Scheldt and several canal tunnels. The amount of covered motorway makes way for more green spaces, play areas and cycle paths.
“This is a standard operation for building a bridge,” said Wim Kenens of TM Roco, the building consortium developing Oosterweel. “But what is unique about it is that we are actually constructing many connected bridges in order to create one extremely long bypass. It will serve as a temporary ring road.”
The temporary construction is five-kilometres long and is necessary to accommodate the 140,000 vehicles that travel along it every day. Closing parts of the viaduct to replace it in phases is, therefore, not an option.
Traffic will still be affected once the new bypass opens towards the end of 2025: It has three lanes in each direction rather than the current viaduct’s four lanes, and the speed limit is being reduced to 70kph.
The demolished viaduct, meanwhile, will be replaced with a new motorway that is lower and disappears at points under the ground, making way for green space above. The entire Oosterweel project is expected to be complete in 2033.