The highway towards Alkmaar has been closed since last night after damage to the road surface has occurred. That happened last weekend, during planned work. Last night, Rijkswaterstaat decided that the highway could not remain open.
The repairs therefore take longer than expected. In fact, the A9 would open again after the morning rush hour, but that is not possible. The work will certainly take until tomorrow morning. According to Rijkswaterstaat, the idea is that traffic can drive over the old road surface tomorrow morning during the morning rush hour. How long the new road surface will remain closed is unknown.
Long traffic jams during the morning rush hour
The closure provided one this morning heavy morning rush hour. On the A2, the traffic from Breukelen to the A10 in Amsterdam almost stopped. There was also a traffic jam on the A1, from Baarn to the Watergraafsmeer exit in Amsterdam.
Lammert Postma of Rijkswaterstaat explained this morning on NH Radio that it is serious damage. “The damage to the bridge was caused when the contractor drilled a gap in the concrete last weekend for the joint transition, and accidentally hit the concrete iron.”
Motorists were able to use the road section on Monday during the day. There has never been a danger of collapse. The concrete could, however, break, creating a large pit, says Lammers.
How could this happen?
It is not yet clear how the damage could occur. On drawings it should be clearly visible where those steel bars are. “It could not be that they were not on the spot where they expected it, or perhaps they have been carelessly. We are now looking for that,” said Lammers.