The risks associated with large infrastructure projects, such as the renovation of the Van Brennnoord Bridge in Rotterdam, are often borne by construction companies. To cover the risks, construction companies charge higher prices and the project becomes very expensive.
“The failure to submit bids for the renovation and refurbishment of the Van Brennoord Bridge is an example of what is currently wrong in the infrastructure sector,” says Bowind Nederland Chairman and former head of the Court of Accounts Arno Visser.
Maintaining thousands of bridges
He knows better than anyone else where and how problems arose in the infrastructure sector. For years, the focus has been on less maintenance and more new construction. When Visser was head of the Court of Accounts, he repeatedly drew attention to the growing backlog of bridge and bridge maintenance.
Now, 10 years later, there is a huge challenge of thousands of bridges and overpasses all requiring maintenance at the same time. “All the artworks were built in the same period.” According to him, their lifespan is limited, they are subject to heavier loads, and new defects constantly appear.”
“For a dime in the front row.”
“For many years, very little was allocated to the budget. Politicians wanted to sit in the front row on a dime.” Visser refers to the design and construction contract. A form of contract in which the risks during renovation fall primarily on construction companies.
Therefore, many construction companies did not register for the huge and complex tender for the Van Brennoord Bridge. In the end, there was only one building set left: Steel Builder Hollandia, Mobilis, and Dura Vermeer. To cover the risks, the construction group charged high costs. So high that it has become very expensive for the government. On 22 January, Minister Mark Harpers canceled the tender. Rijkswaterstaat must go back to the drawing board.
260 billion euros in 2100
The renovation of bridges, viaducts, tunnels and locks is enormous. The TNO research institute recently calculated the amounts involved up to the year 2100. Annual costs rise from around 2.4 billion euros per year in the period 2021-2030 to 2.9 billion in the years 2030-2040.
Annual renovation costs are expected to exceed €3 billion from 2040 to around €3.7 billion by the end of this century. The total costs of the renewal mission until 2100 are estimated at approximately 260 billion euros. (Source TNO)
'It has to be different in the future'
In order to implement infrastructure renovation and refurbishment faster, more efficiently and cheaper, we will have to work differently in the future, says Harald Versteeg, Director of Transformation at Bouwcampus: the innovation platform for the construction sector.
“We still look at each project on a project-by-project basis. One bridge, one project,” he says. “We will have to do it differently in the future. Multiple bridges are often needed on the same canal. You can also build them sequentially. Then companies have business over a longer period and can invest more easily.”
There is no uniformity in bridges
Hans de Wit, director and board member at hydraulic engineering company Damsteegt, also supports this approach. According to him, there is no need to fear uniformity in bridges. “We can make chain bridges, which all look different from the outside, and that's not a problem.”
De Wit emphasizes that there are many advantages to this method of construction. “If you build something 50 times in a row, you become more skilled at it and so things go faster. The first one takes a week, the last one a day.”
Back to the drawing board
The failure of the tender represents a major setback for Rijkswaterstaat. With 230,000 cars passing, the Van Brienenoord Bridge is one of the busiest intersections in the Netherlands and should not fail.
The project must now first go back to the drawing board. Arjan Drisprung, chief engineer at South Holland-Zuid, is open to criticism from builders and believes the idea of straight-line construction is definitely an option. “This path may lead not only to reducing risks, but also to acceleration. Because we have much more to do.”
Construction companies are looking to other sectors
Because of the delay in the renovation of the Van Brienenoord Bridge, Bouwende Nederland president Arno Visser sees another risk. Large construction companies are increasingly focusing on other sectors where there is also a lot of work to be done. “There is no shortage of tasks,” he says. For example, new energy transmission infrastructure must be built and more homes built.
“If the client isn't professional enough, and changes the stakes, and wants a ringside seat on a dime. Then you think: 'Okay, I'll let that slide.'
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