A
much-anticipated cycling bridge in Tervuren that will connect Flanders
and Brussels will be delayed by at least six months due to incorrect
weight estimates.
While
the two access ramps are ready on either side of the ring road,
installation of the bridge linking them is behind schedule.
The
worksite is being coordinated by the Flemish Roads Agency as part of
the major renovations to the ring road, not only for cyclists crossing
it but for the cars that use it.
The
aim is to eliminate the need for cyclists to wait at traffic lights
before crossing the junction at the Quatre Bras, where the Avenue de
Tervuren meets the Brussels ring road.
A
covered, seven-metre bridge designed to do exactly that is already
finished. All that remains is to put it in place, but the equipment
normally used to do that is not suitable given the bridge’s weight.
“It turns out that the bridge is heavier than originally planned,” said Camille Cullens of the Flemish Roads Agency.
“It
can't be laid with the equipment we normally use for this kind of
operation. So we have to call in equipment that we hadn't taken into
account in the estimate.
"But
this equipment is currently unavailable, and has to be sourced abroad,
and the site contractor has told us that it will not be available
until after the summer."
The
equipment is expected “in the last week of September”, Callens said,
adding that the agency still plans to install the bridge over a weekend
in order to minimise disruption.
Once
the bridge has been installed, the finishing work will take another
month or so, meaning the first cyclists will not cross before the end
of October at the earliest, about six months later than planned.
When
the project was first announced, the cost was expected to be €5.5
million, of which €500,000 will be covered by the King Baudouin
Foundation and the rest by Flanders.
It
now remains to be seen whether the additional cost of the materials
will be met by the contractor or by the Flemish Roads Agency, which has
not yet confirmed this information.
Source; The Bulletin; https://www.thebulletin.be/tervuren-cycling-bridge...
