Bridge maintenance, Zaanstad

Client: Municipality of Zaanstad, Construction and Management Department
Contract: Bridge maintenance, Municipality of Zaanstad
Completion: December 2004

The Municipality of Zaanstad awarded GTI the contract for the mechanical maintenance of 14 bridges within the local authority's boundaries. In November/December 2004, maintenance and modifications were carried out on two virtually identical bridges in the heart of Zaandam: the Wilhelminabrug and the Beatrixbrug. The bridges had to be closed to land traffic when the drives that open and close the bridge decks were being replaced. The local authority made it a condition that land and water traffic suffer little or no inconvenience. GTI had 110 hours to finish the maintenance work on each bridge, so we had to keep to a tight schedule.

Work carried out

• GTI manufactured and assembled the reinforcement, foundations, gear boxes, lifting beams, shafts and electrical installations.
• GTI subjected the bridge girders to a special procedure to confirm the bridge reinforcements. We replaced the fifty-year-old gears with silent, frequency-regulated drives and also adapted the electrical installation to bring it up to modern standards.

With careful planning and good cooperation the two bridges were back in operation again well within the set deadlines.