Maintenance of 15 movable civil engineering structures in Overijssel

In 2019, Witteveen+Bos was awarded the engineering services contract for the maintenance of 15 movable bridges and locks in Overijssel. For client Overijssel Province, it is important to extend the lifespan, increase the safety level and improve the maintainability of its movable bridges and locks for the civil engineering structures it manages.

In early 2020, Witteveen+Bos started preparing specifications for the 15 civil engineering structures, incorporating more than 1,000 variable maintenance measures for life extension, (occupational) safety, maintainability and compliance with the Machinery Directive. These measures range from erecting signs, fencing and warning stickers to completely revamping bridge and lock control systems.

For some of these measures, Witteveen+Bos examined several variants and elaborated on a preferred variant. After the specifications were established, the contract file for this variable maintenance was prepared, after which a tender procedure was launched in 2021. Five market participants participated in the tender; the winning contractor, SPIE, began detailed engineering and realisation of the specification measures in 2022.

The civil engineering structures are being addressed in series, and the work for the first civil engineering structures has now been completed. In 2023, for instance, the Blauwe Handbrug was equipped with a new operating and control system and all lock gates of the New Beukers Lock were replaced. For this lock at Beukers, the operating and control system will also be completely renewed this year. Smaller-scale works were also carried out on the Ageler Lock, Aremberg Lock, Blokzijl drawbridge, Beuker Lock drawbridge, Bridge over the Scheere and the bridge over the Vecht. In this process, Witteveen+Bos provided both engineering advice and testing and construction supervision for the Province of Overijssel.

By mid-2025, all 15 civil engineering structures should be completed. For each civil engineering structure, the work is planned with the least possible disruption, with safety at the construction site paramount. These measures will make these civil engineering structures ready for the future again.

For this project, Witteveen+Bos used the knowledge and experience of the IMPAKT Ingenieursbureau firm. IMPAKT Ingenieursbureau is a collaboration between Witteveen+Bos, Royal HaskoningDHV and Pilz in the field of industrial automation.