A4 Burgerveen-Leiden, the Netherlands

The A4 motorway between Burgerveen and Leiden is a busy artery between Amsterdam and The Hague. After having previously widened the road over a substantial length to 2x3 lanes the Ministry of Infrastructure commissioned the upgrading of the A4 motorway at the two last remaining 2x2 lane bottlenecks near the existing Ringvaart Aqueduct and the movable bridge over the Oude Rijn river.

Upgrading of the motorway near the Oude Rijn river included the replacement of the movable bridge by an aqueduct and replacing the old motorway embankment by half open approach sections on both banks of the river. This created a 1.4 km long semi-open tunnel section leading to a large reduction of traffic noise. Combined with the benefits of a reduced visual and physical barrier between the adjacent cities of Leiden, Leiderdorp and Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk the project enabled significant spatial development opportunities in the direct area.

Role DMC

DMC has been involved with the project from tender stage on, and played a major role in developing the winning proposal. Especially the innovative concept of the largely prefabricated Oude Rijn Aqueduct and its approaches have significantly contributed to the successful bid.

After contract award, a fully integrated DMC design team was “embedded” in the project team. This design team has subsequently produced the Basic and Detailed design for all civil structures and roadworks, has provided a full range of site engineering support and has delivered the required As-Built documentation. Also, DMC has provided overall Design Management services throughout these design stages.