PhD Thesis

RingRing: underground construction for multiple use of space above and along the Ring in Rotterdam and Amsterdam

van der Hoeven, FD. (2001). RingRing ondergronds bouwen voor meervoudig ruimtegebruik boven en langs de Ring in Rotterdam en in Amsterdam.

The book discusses current plans in the Netherlands and Europe, outlines in detail the design choices when making underground roads, explains the considerations when making design decisions, and applies the knowledge in two specific assignments: the Groene-Schakel over the A15 (Southern Ring of Rotterdam) and the DroogDOK for the integration of the A10 in the Zuidas (Southern Ring of Amsterdam).

Five years of PhD research into the possible use of underground construction for the integration of motorways led to this publication. Traffic tunnels should improve the spatial quality around the infrastructure and offer opportunities for multiple use of space. The Ring Rotterdam and the Ring Amsterdam serve as models for this approach. Both Ringen are complex highways that run parallel to rail and metro lines on more than one occasion. Their environment is alternately green and urban and their subsoil is characterized by a high groundwater level and a low carrying capacity, which is typical of the west of the Netherlands. Because of this special soil, not only under tunneling was considered, but also at crossing over, whereby the subsoil is first raised prior to the construction of the road. The book discusses current plans in the Netherlands and Europe, outlines in detail the design choices when making underground roads and explains the considerations when making design decisions (safety, costs, quality of living environment, intersection and multiple use of space). This generic knowledge is applied in two specific assignments: the Groene-Schakel over the A15 (Southern Ring of Rotterdam) and the DroogDOK for the integration of the A10 in the Zuidas (Southern Ring of Amsterdam). Finally, it was explored in which places from the current social and administrative perspective it would make sense to realize crossings or tunnels in both Rings.