June 17 is Construction Day. Construction sites throughout the Netherlands are opening their construction gates for a look behind the scenes. The day is part of the image campaign ‘Construction makes it’ by Bouwend Nederland. Thirteen locations can be visited in the North; five in Groningen, five in Friesland and three in Drenthe. We list the options for you.
Drenthe
Biochron
The Biochron in Emmen is being transformed into a cultural hotspot, with the underground spaces in the Rensenpark forming a Center for Visual Arts.
The existing building, which once housed the aquariums of the Noorderdierenpark, will be stripped. The construction will be changed in the spaces below ground level. There is a water feature above ground. To make room for exhibition spaces, the base of the underground spaces will be one of steel frames, glass walls and beautiful sightlines.
Visualizations give visitors an idea of what it will look like in the future.
House for Sports & Culture in Zuidwolde
The Huus for Sport & Culture in Zuidwolde offers accommodation to a wide range of associations and public facilities. It will be a meeting center for the residents of Zuidwolde and the surrounding area and will soon be central to the village, both literally and figuratively. Hesco Bouw will show various facets of the design and construction during the open day.
Newly built apartments Thorbeckelaan in Assen
In Assen you can take a look at the construction of eighty apartments on the Thorbeckelaan. The main contractors and subcontractors provide a tour of the construction site.
Groningen
Anyone who ever has to be in Groningen couldn’t ignore it recently: long-term and intensive work is being done on the ring road around the city. On the Day of Construction you can take a look at three construction sites at the largest infrastructure project in Groningen.
Between the Hereweg and the Oude Winschoterdiep the ring road will soon be eight meters underground. A new park, the Zuiderplantsoen, will be built on top of the four-lane road surface. On June 17, you can walk 1.7 kilometers on the sunken ring road.
Julianaplein is the largest and busiest intersection in the Northern Netherlands. This is where traffic from the directions of Assen, Drachten, Hoogezand and the city center converges. The traffic lights on this square caused traffic jams during rush hour. Julianaplein will now be grade-separated, so that traffic can continue from any direction.
Two large tower cranes can be seen on the square. These move the reinforcement to the tunnels. In order to work more efficiently, the reinforcement is not always braided in the tunnel, but the braiders are also working next to the tunnels.
When you enter Groningen from the west on the A7 you will see the iconic Gasunie building. The intersection here, Freedom Square, will be just like the Julianaplein, it has a separate floor. Each traffic flow gets its own lane, which allows traffic to flow better and improves safety.
Groningen main station
Groningen station will be made future-proof in the coming years. There will be an underground pedestrian passage, a bicycle tunnel and a bicycle shed. The bus station will move to the south side and there will be an underpass for buses. The hall again becomes the logical entrance and exit of the monumental station building. You can check the progress of the process here.
Refurbishment Grote Markt Groningen
In the middle of the city center there will be a mix of seating areas, play areas, a water basin and greenery. The underground infrastructure is also being addressed. On the Day of Construction there is a guided tour of the Grote Markt with the contractor who talks about the project. View the archaeological finds or try to complete a course on a mini electric crane without hitting the tennis balls.
Friesland
New Cambuur stadium
The new Cambuur Stadium is being built on the west side of Leeuwarden.
The building will house not only the stadium of the football club, but also an education building of ROC Friese Poort (recently merged with Friesland College and now jointly called Firda) and commercial spaces. The area around the stadium is called Elfstedenpark, because the Elfsteden (skating) hall is also located here.
Visitors can visit the construction site. Main contractor Van Wijnen, the subcontractors and future users show at an information market what the construction and this stadium have to offer. You can also see what kind of cranes and machines are used every day on the stadium and follow a walking route across the construction site. There are craft and DIY activities for children.
Restore A7 Princess Margriet Tunnel
It was national news: in December last year, part of the northern slip road of the Princess Margriet tunnel in the A7 motorway rose centimeters. Both the tunnel and the A7 were closed and huge bags of sand on the road surface had to prevent worse.
Due to the closure of the A7, road users are diverting to the old national road that runs parallel to the motorway. This caused a lot of inconvenience to villages such as Oppenhuizen and Uitwellingerga. In addition, the bridge on that route wore out at an accelerated rate due to heavy traffic .
In January, Van Hattum en Blankevoort and Rijkswaterstaat started research into ways of recovery. On the Day of Construction, visitors will gain insight into the steps that have been followed and the complexity associated with it. If it is possible in terms of safety, then a tour of the tunnel follows.
Realization Middelseefeart in Leeuwarden
The Middelseefeart is a body of water around Middelsee, a new district of Leeuwarden directly below the Van Harinxma Canal. The new part of the city with about 3200 homes has a lot of water and greenery.
Van Spijker Infrabouw BV is responsible in this residential area for the construction of quays and bridges and for the earthworks of the Middelseefeart; the construction of 2.2 kilometers of quay wall, the construction of eight concrete span bridges and the excavation and removal of 300,000 cubic meters of soil.
Preparing for construction Middelsee Leeuwarden
A visit to the new housing estate Middelsee is a logical combination with the previous one. Aannemersbedrijf Oosterhuis is responsible for preparing the site for construction: the installation of earthworks, sewerage and (temporary) road paving before construction of the homes can begin.
The Office in Grou
In the water sports village of Grou, the former police station is given a second life as a residential building. The oval-shaped building will soon house twelve apartments and two penthouses. View the progress of the makeover here.