Renovation of the A50 motorway bridge over the River Waal near Ewijk has been commissioned to start from September. This will expand the functioning life of the bridge by 30 years.
The job commissioned by the Ministry of Public Works and Water Management will be realized by Combinatie Versterken Bruggen, a joint collaboration of Strukton and Ballast Nedam. EUR 68 million (excluding VAT) as per the contract, was granted to the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT).
The current bridge is a cable-stayed structure of 1 km in length and 40 m in width. Combinatie Versterken Bruggen will increase the height of the bridge by 1 m offering the height clearing space for ships. The renewal will include welding, upkeep work such as painting, taking out the old roadside furniture and putting in new ones, putting in new cables in place of the old ones, pouring in high-strength concrete and a new surface of asphalt.
The work will be performed in a box of 3-m height that will hang from the bridge. This will ensure that there is no hindrance to the traffic on the existing bridge. People can still use the current bridge at the same time while the work is being performed just below the bridge.
The work is being carried out at the segment of the A50 motorway from Ewijk to Valburg. The two carriageways will be made wider and the motorway will be upped from a 2x2 into a 2x4 lane highway and a hard shoulder. This will enable smoother flow of traffic and make the locality more accessible. There will also be an additional A50 motorway bridge over the River Waal to the west of the current structure. The intersections at Ewijk and Valbur will be modernized.
Source: http://www.strukton.com