Stolperbascule bridge in Schagen

The Province of North Holland is keen to pursue a smarter approach to the replacement and renovation of movable bridges. Rather than tackling each project individually, the Province wants to take a programme-based approach for a portfolio of projects in order to work more efficiently, faster and better, and to actually achieve objectives in circular construction and realise ambitions in areas such as energy. This approach is based on advice from Witteveen+Bos for the Construction Agenda and is now being implemented by the Province of North Holland.

The Stolperbascule bridge has an important regional and local function as a crossing over the North Holland Canal. The bridge was built in 1936 and is due to be replaced as it has exceeded its design life of 80 years and requires intensive maintenance to remain operational. After analysing various options, the Province decided to replace the bridge with a new one to the north of the existing bridge; this new bridge will be a drawbridge.

The new bridge will be built according to IFD (industrial, flexible and demountable) principles, which contribute to circular construction. The various parts of the bridge will be designed and built with standardised interfaces, which will allow for re-use and easy replacement of parts during major maintenance works. These principles are laid down in the Netherlands Technical Agreement (NTA) 8086 of the NEN, to which Witteveen+Bos contributes by providing input in terms of content and by testing in the process. 

Our client values our team for its proven experience in the design of movable bridges and sustainable contracts. In addition to circularity, expertise in machine safety and bridge operation is required to make remote operation possible.