Development of Province of Overijssel bridge and lock standard

The Province of Overijssel asked Witteveen+Bos to develop a standard for the province’s approximately 40 movable bridges and locks. Due to different implementations (for example, the installation of bridge lighting), a proliferation of bridge and lock variants has emerged over the years.

During renovations, parts were often copied from recently renovated objects. While every bridge and lock is unique, the components that generally could have been uniformly implemented were at times adjusted or not implemented the same way, which meant that every object ended up looking somewhat different. Since major renovations will be carried out within the province’s portfolio over the coming years, Witteveen+Bos was asked to develop a standard: the Province of Overijssel Bridge and Lock Standard.

A living standard
By evaluating the current portfolio and obtaining input from previous projects (e.g. major overhaul of the Daarlerveen Bridge) and other standards, a ‘living standard’ was developed – because, in reality, a standard is never finished. The developed standard sets out the requirements and guidelines that the Province of Overijssel will apply to its movable bridges and locks. The standard describes how to deal with the operating system, signals, sustainability, machine and other safety aspects, drive and operating mechanisms, documentation, testing, barriers, civil engineering works, and more. The standard also describes the processes to be followed and contains specific examples (typicals) of how something should be implemented.

Starting point
The standard provides the basic starting point for what the province’s portfolio of bridges and locks will ultimately look like. In ongoing projects, such as the ‘Rehabilitation of civil engineering structures in the Province of Overijssel’ and ‘Machine guideline and occupational safety measures for 24 civil engineering structures in the Province of Overijssel’, the standard forms the starting point for the measures to be implemented; the results of each project will subsequently contribute to the continued development of the standard.