Construction companies Nebest, Antea Group, Strukton Civiel and GBN launch innovative collaboration to solve social issue

The Dutch SustainableGrowthCoalition

At the initiative of Nebest, the combination Closing the Loop participated in the Smart Business Innovation Research of the Department of Public Works. Through this innovation competition, the government challenges entrepreneurs to come up with innovative products and services to solve social issues. The success of this collaboration is evidenced by the fact that the team came up with the winning concept: Closing the Loop. On Friday, April 23, 2021, Nebest, Antea Group, Strukton Civiel and GBN were awarded the realization of the first circular viaduct with high-quality reused object parts in the Netherlands. A big step towards a climate-neutral and circular infrastructure.

High-quality reuse of existing structures

Closing the Loop closes the circle for high-value reuse of existing structures. The consortium demonstrated the feasibility of realizing the first ten viaducts with then 70% high-value reused object parts in the next few years. The remaining 30% will be highly recycled. This means that basically no material is lost.

This is more sustainable and economically attractive than the current method of construction. The concept involves harvesting usable building blocks (lego blocks) from old bridges and overpasses, in order to reuse them completely in new objects. In this way, nothing is lost, costs, and materials are saved. The aim of the combination is for this method to become the norm, unless there really is no other way: circular unless.

The consortium is now moving forward to realize the concept. In addition to the regular partners, the consortium also has a number of knowledge partners (IMd, NEN, Madaster, TNO and Municipality of Amsterdam). Closing the Loop organizes knowledge sessions for interested parties, registration is possible via the website.