Replacing fire-resistant construction Hemspoortunnel

On behalf of ProRail, Anton Rail & Infra was asked to replace the fire-resistant construction in the Hemspoortunnel. Phase 1 of the project will be completed in week 19, with phase 2 to be completed in the last quarter of 2022.

The Hemspoortunnel

The Hemspoortunnel consists of three tunnel tubes and connects the stations Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Zaandam with each other via an underpass under the North Sea Canal.

The tunnel was built using an immersion method and consists of 9 immersion elements. These tunnel elements are connected to each other and finished watertight by means of an “omega-shaped rubber expansion joint”. This joint is responsible for sealing the Hemspoortunnel watertight. To ensure that this joint is not damaged by fire or otherwise, it is protected by a fire-resistant construction.

Due to, among other things, corrosion, the existing fire-resistant construction came loose, which even earlier fell onto the track in service. At the beginning of this year, ProRail asked Anton Rail & Infra to replace the existing fire-resistant construction of the 8 expansion joints in each tunnel tube (24 in total). On the one hand, this allows train traffic to travel safely through the Hemspoortunnel and, on the other hand, the Hemspoortunnel is protected against fire and, on the other hand, influences that have adverse effects on the watertightness.

Workactivities & Collaboration

Anton Rail & Infra engineered, produced and realized the design of the first part of the new fire-resistant construction in approximately 9 weeks, in collaboration with sister companies Anton Constructiewerken, Anton Industrial Services and Hoogendijk Bouw.

In the weekends of weeks 9 and 11, the asbestos in two of the three tunnel tubes was tested. the existing expansion joints were cleaned up, the existing fire-resistant construction was (partially) removed and phase 1 of the new construction was installed. In the weekend of week 19, this will also take place for the third and last tunnel tube.

Meanwhile, Anton Rail & Infra, in combination with its sister companies, is busy engineering and producing phase 2 of the Work. This concerns the fitting of the fitting pieces of the new fire-resistant construction in Q4 of this year and, among other things, modifications to be made such as inspection hatches, adjustments to the overhead wires, etc.