Zero-emission construction site opened; test location activities started
Today outgoing Minister Barbara Visser of Infrastructure and Water Management gave the official starting signal for the construction of the Innovation Lane A58 Kloosters near Oirschot. The minister gave the starting signal together with Nyckle Sijtsma (initiator of the project), Cees de Wijs (CEO VolkerWessels Infrastructure) and Tess van der Staak (Youth Mayor Oirschot). The new Innovation Lane will be a unique test location for sustainable road construction and is a project of Rijkswaterstaat and VolkerWessels company Gebr. Van Kessel, in close cooperation with KWS.
“Rijkswaterstaat is working every day to ensure good accessibility,” says outgoing minister Visser. “To minimize the impact on the climate, we want to be energy-neutral and work in a circular manner by 2030, while continuing to work on roads that keep the Netherlands moving. The results of the Innovation Lane will help with this.”
Innovation Lane creator Nyckle Sijtsma: “It is still a bit unreal that the realization of the Innovation Lane is actually going to happen. It feels powerful that we are all going to work together on a special stretch of road in the Netherlands. I hope that the experiments here will help us develop new insights into the transformation to sustainable mobility. Innovation is the way forward.”
Cees de Wijs, CEO VolkerWessels Infrastructure: “Our good relationship with Rijkswaterstaat makes it possible for us to work together to accelerate the sustainability of the Infrasector. In this project we are working with a number of proven sustainable and circular applications and innovations, such as the use of electrical equipment, and we will also have the opportunity to test a large number of new or adapted methods. The knowledge and experience we gain from this test strip will give a boost to the ambition to work emission-free, both in the widening of the A58 but also in other projects.'
Zero-emission construction site
At the launch ceremony, an electric roller was set in motion, officially opening the zero-emission construction site. The construction of the Innovation Lane is entirely dedicated to sustainability. Gebr. Van Kessel is constructing the strip on the basis of zero-emission. The contractor is taking on the challenge of not emitting any CO₂ during the construction of the strip. This will be done through sustainable working methods, the use of electrical equipment and equipment on clean fuels (tank-to-wheel principle).
Innovation lane A58 Kloosters
The new Innovation Lane will be a unique test location for sustainable road construction. Experiences gained here will contribute to the development and application of innovations for the A58 road widening project and other road projects. VolkerWessels company Gebr. Van Kessel is not only building the Innovation Lane. The contractor, together with various chain partners and KWS Infra Eindhoven, is also applying a large package of circular products and its own innovations. In the second quarter of 2022, the Innovation Lane will be completed.
InnovA58 and SmartwayZ.NL
In the InnovA58 project, Rijkswaterstaat is working on widening the A58 between Eindhoven-Tilburg and Sint Annabosch-Galder from 2 to 3 lanes. InnovA58 is a subprogram of SmartwayZ.NL, an innovative mobility program in which governments, businesses and knowledge institutions are working together to create a smooth, safe and smart mobility network. The Innovation Lane A58 Kloosters is the first subproject of InnovA58 in realization.