Queen Máxima visits circular projects: widening A9 and Asphalt Recycling Train (ART)

Queen Máxima paid a working visit to the infrastructure sector on Tuesday morning, September 2. During the visit, representatives of Rijkswaterstaat, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and market parties from the construction and infrastructure sector spoke to the Queen about circularity and sustainability. She also received an explanation of the use of circular concrete in the widening of the A9 Badhoevedorp - Holendrecht and attended a demonstration of circular asphalting with the Asphalt Recycling Train (ART).

On behalf of Rijkswaterstaat, Queen Máxima was received at the InZicht information center in Amstelveen by Roger Mol, Chief Engineer Director Sustainability and Living Environment and Chief Procurement Officer. "Today we show that in order to accelerate the circular transition in the sector, and bring about sustainable innovations, good cooperation between public clients and market parties is essential. In doing so, our goal is to raise the bar step by step across the sector, in which market players across the breadth of the sector can grow in sustainable innovations." The sector's ambition is to be climate-neutral and circular by 2030. This means that during construction, replacement, maintenance and renovation of infrastructure as many raw materials as possible will be reused and CO₂-emissions are reduced. 

Old concrete gets new life

Circularity and sustainability play a major role in the widening of the A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht highway. The visit to the bridge over the Bullewijk River focused on the reuse of concrete. Some 300 of the girders harvested in the stretch will be reused in other road construction projects, reducing CO₂ emissions and saving raw materials. Recycled concrete is also being used in the project. Alexander Goes, technical consultant and discipline leader civil/concrete at Witteveen+Bos on the use of circular concrete in this project: "The remaining concrete that was released during the demolition of several bridges was crushed, cleaned and separated into different raw materials. In some sections of the underlay beams of the bridge over the Bullewijk River, approximately 50% of the gravel and sand consists of recycled material. This approach is part of the concrete recycling pilot project, in which Rijkswaterstaat, together with partners, is investigating how recycled raw materials can be optimally used in new concrete."

Rafael Huerga Fernández, project director of contractor combination VeenIX, adds that the widening of the A9BAHO was originally only to be delivered energy-neutral, but the joint effort has raised the ambition and added the reuse of girders and the application of circular concrete to the scope.

Innovation for road maintenance

In Hilversum, Queen Máxima was given a demonstration and explanation of the Asphalt Recycling Train (ART), a "train" of machines that processes old asphalt into a new road surface on site. This circular working method saves supply and disposal of asphalt and enables full reuse of materials. The ART is an innovative example of cooperation between public clients and market parties. This is crucial for the (continued) development and scaling up of this circular alternative to regular asphalt construction.

Wendeline Besier, Program Director Sustainability at Dura Vermeer Division Infra BV, and involved in the collaboration around the ART: "Future-proof infrastructure is only possible by acting together as sector partners and continuing to innovate. This requires courage and perseverance. The ART is a great example of this. There have been several trials throughout the country and today we are here together with Rijkswaterstaat and fellow builder D. van der Steen, who deployed the ART on behalf of the municipality of Hilversum. We are sharing the knowledge gained with the entire industry so that we can learn together from the outcomes. This is incredibly important for the transition to circular construction and the movement we want to make as a sector, step by step."

The working visit concluded with a conversation about the projects visited, sustainable infrastructure and the ambition to be fully circular.