The first of three sections of track deck of a new rail station in The Hague, in the Netherlands, was manoeuvred into place at the beginning of August.
The track deck is the basis for the new light rail connection between The Hague and Rotterdam and over the past few months, contractor BAM built the deck at a temporary construction site 150m from the station.
Steel fabricator Iemants and lifting specialist Mammoet helped to move the 88m-long, 800,000kg deck over a weekend using a launch system of jacks and a push / pull unit. These jacks were mounted on a temporary work platform as well as on the columns.
To prevent bending of the raildeck, a temporary support was placed at the Prins Bernhard Viaduct. A thousand spectators are estimated to have watched the proceedings.
The construction of the new station is carried out by Prorail, commissioned by the municipality of The Hague. Contractor BAM is building the new connection, designed by ZJA. The construction of the HSE has a contract value of 41 million euros and is due to be completed in the summer of 2016.
