City Bridge Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

The city bridge Nijmegen is a new bridge across the river Waal, built to improve the accessibility of the city and to improve traffic flow around the wider city area. The bridge was built at a historical location known as “De Oversteek” (“The Crossing”), where American soldiers crossed the river to secure the existing Waal bridge during the operation Market Garden. The existing Waal bridge, dated 1936, was at the time of completion the biggest arch bridge in Europe with a span of 244m. Then new City Bridge, which will allow a five lane crossing, a two lane-cycle path at the east side of the bridge and a 1.0 m wide inspection lane at the west side of the bridge.

Design Involvement

DMC was part of the design team and responsible for a large range of technical as well as management aspects.

The design, build and 25 years maintenance contract of the new bridge crossing was awarded to a consortium consisting of BAM Civiel, Max Bögl and Ney Poulissen Architects and Engineers. The bridge has a total length of 1,400 m. The southern approach bridge at the city side, has a curvature with a radius of 500 meters. The main span crosses the river Waal in a straight line, while the northern approach bridge has a horizontal curvature of 2,000 meters.

DMC has prepared the Tender- and Detailed Design for the approach bridges including the river piers for the main span, roadway design, river design and water drainage systems. Besides structural, geotechnical and coastal design, DMC was also responsible for the material / concrete technology and design coordination. DMC had an instrumental role in an integrating design and construct processes by facilitating the Building Information Management and Systems Engineering.