Our cable containment product ARCOSYSTEM® was successfully installed along a highway bridge as part of an important reinforcement job in the Netherlands.
The project took place on the A7 Neckerstraat bridge in the city of Purmerend to the north of Amsterdam.
Size 2 of the ARCOSYSTEM® cable troughing (the largest cell size available) was attached to a run of floor plates bolted to the ground at 6-metre centres for 210 metres on each side of the bridge. A hinged floor plate was used at each end to raise the troughing by a necessary 45 degrees up from the surface to ensure a clear run.
“The advantage of using ARCOSYSTEM® for a job like this is that, due to its composite construction, the troughing is lightweight and easy to handle, making it faster to install and more cost effective compared to a steel alternative.”
The emergency reinforcement of the bridge was complicated by unforeseen damage to the connecting beams of the girder deck. To strengthen the structure, operatives had to drill approximately 25,000 holes and the bridge was reinforced with more than 8km of steel — all fitted by hand, a meticulous puzzle that the companies working on the repair solved together with great commitment.
The reinforcement was completed by the construction consortium SAVERA, comprising a combination of Dura Vermeer, Wagemaker, and Freyssinet, supported by Van der Jagt, Technobeton, TSNED, Noordzij, Van Doorn, Koeman Berkhout, Matemco, and Betonstud.
The job was part of the ZuidasDok project, one of the largest infrastructure programmes in the Netherlands, which is transforming the Zuidas financial district of Amsterdam into a vibrant urban hub while improving the accessibility of the Dutch capital with enhanced road and public transport connections.
Manufactured from pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymers (GRP/FRP) for a sturdy yet lightweight composition, ARCOSYSTEM® contains and protects power and digital communication cables in all weathers, with a working temperature range of -40˚C to +80˚. Varying sizes of the troughing is available to suit a range of applications.
As well as floor plates, the troughing can be attached to a variety of surfaces such as railings, rock walls, viaducts, HEA beams, bridges, and mountainous slopes, as well as posts mounted into the ground.
For more information, contact our technical experts at CCS, the product’s UK distributor. ARCOSYSTEM® is manufactured by our Swiss partners Castioni Kabelführungssysteme GmbH, while the ARCOSYSTEM® partner for the BeNeLux market is PION Kunststoffen, who was the supplier for this Dutch highway project.
Images of ARCOSYSTEM® being fitted in place during the successful Purmerend bridge reinforcement project can be viewed below:
Earlier this year, ARCOSYSTEM® was also installed along a different bridge in central Amsterdam, pictures of which can be seen below:
This article was originally published by Complete Composite Systems.
