Commissioned by ProRail, VolkerRail will renovate a number of railway sidings and industrial tracks in Zeeland and West Brabant for a period of two years. The work will be carried out as sustainably as possible, with the focus on circularity. With the project 'Duurzame BBV Zeeland NCBG', both parties hope to gain knowledge about the reuse of materials.
The plan submitted by VolkerRail focuses on 'infra mining', i.e. the smart reuse of materials such as rails, cross bars and ballast that are released in other projects in the region. Using a physical and digital materials hub, the materials will be collected, mapped, assessed, refurbished if necessary and then reused. The plan was appreciated by the client for its concrete and feasible measures and was assessed with the maximum score of three 10s.
Remco Keijser, Design Manager at VolkerRail: "By reusing materials to a high standard, we keep the raw materials chain closed, limit CO2 emissions and show that there is great potential for circularity in the railway sector. BBV Zeeland is therefore a unique opportunity for us, together with the client and the chain, to remove potential obstacles and set a new sustainable standard for track renewals."
The first phase of the project, in which the parties will further detail the measures, has now started.