Remarkable formwork solution for new bank construction

Beautiful combination of formwork technology and concrete design

As part of the ecological connecting zone, work has recently been done on the reconstruction of the Watermolenbeek in Roosendaal. This involved reconstructing the old bank construction from the early 20th century. Because the stream drains an important part of the inner city rainwater, it could not be closed in its entirety during the reconstruction.

The section of the Watermolenbeek where the concrete bank construction was reconstructed runs from the Burgemeester Freijterslaan culvert to the Kadeplein culverts. It concerns a stream length of about 175 meters with a bank construction on both sides. The existing bank construction consisted of concrete sheet piles with a concrete cover gap, most of which were installed at the beginning of the 20th century and a section that was renewed in 1963 in connection with the diversion of the Watermolenbeek for the construction of the tunnel trough of the Market Tunnel in the Burgemeester Freijterslaan.

In-situ concrete

The reconstruction of the bank was carried out by Züblin Nederland using cast-in-place concrete. To be able to reconstruct the bank and keep the Watermolenbeek available for water drainage, it could not be temporarily closed or diverted. As part of the reconstruction, the bottom of the stream was first provided with the solid concrete floor. For this purpose, a floor was poured of underwater concrete in which an angle line was poured along one-third of the width of the floor. This was needed to attach a water retaining wall that allowed work to be done on the narrow side while the other side remained reserved for the aquifer.

Lightweight formwork system

The 175-meter reconstruction section was divided into five sections with one section being poured while the next section was prepared. A single-sided design was chosen for the formwork. NOEalu, a lightweight aluminum wall formwork that is easy to handle and yet can withstand high concrete pressures, was chosen as the formwork system. 275 cm long and 180 cm high formwork panels were used for the bank construction. The panels were fully prepared at NOE Formwork Engineering and delivered ready-to-use to the construction site. Because the embankment wall is directly adjacent to some residents' gardens, it was decided to use a compact crane system that allowed the panels to be moved without inconveniencing the adjacent plots.

Enhanced biodiversity

With the reconstruction of the bank construction, measures also had to be taken to strengthen the ecological connection zone. These included the installation of a running ridge with planting. The footbridge was included in NOE Formwork Engineering's formwork solution and could be realized at the same time as the bank reconstruction.

To improve biodiversity, the walkway and bank construction were also textured. The formwork was provided with NOEplast textured formliners, type Krakow, a texture that lends itself perfectly to the light growth of flora desired for this project. NOEplast textured formliners can be used to provide concrete surfaces with aesthetic or functional structures. The robust properties of the mats ensure that in standard quality they can be used more than a hundred times. For limited applications (8-10x), most structures are also available in the more economical light quality.