No fanfare. No champagne. No assembled press. No celebratory moment. The opening of its 1000th bridge went differently than FiberCore Europe had envisioned due to tightened COVID measures. Under the guise; "life is a party, but you have to hang the garlands yourself," FiberCore's Managing Director Jan Kroon therefore opened the bridge himself. With a mask and at a safe distance from the photographer.
Not the first composite bridge for Tholen
The bridge was quickly and easily installed earlier on September 8 by main contractor Aquavia (part of KWS) from Sas van Gent. The 1000th bridge is part of the 'Major Maintenance Bridges Municipality of Tholen' project in which Aquavia, among others, installed three composite bridges to replace outdated wooden bridges. These are not the first composite bridges for the Municipality of Tholen; four bridges had previously been supplied by FiberCore. The bridge also had a local touch; the foam cores used to build the bridge came from the Tholen company Nestaan.
A sustainable choice
The municipality of Tholen has opted for a sustainable solution with composite. Due to their light own weight, the prefabricated bridges can be easily transported and quickly installed with minimal resources. This ensures minimal disruption to the surrounding area. The bridges require hardly any maintenance, are hufterproof and insensitive to external influences, such as de-icing salts, and will last more than a hundred years.
1,000 bridges: a milestone
The bridge represents a milestone in the young history of composite as a structural material for bridge construction. FiberCore was at the forefront of this development, installing the world's first prefabricated composite bridge in Dronten in 2007. With the development of InfraCore® technology, FiberCore was able to deliver high-quality structures. A milestone for FiberCore and the first step for the use of prefab composite bridges in the construction and infrastructure sector, where people were introduced to the unique properties of our bridges.
By mid-2020, FiberCore Europe has developed, designed and produced more than a thousand structures. Not only bridges and bridge decks, but also lock gates. Including the largest prefabricated composite lock gates in the world in the Wilhelminakanaal near Tilburg, commissioned by the Department of Public Works. With each project, FiberCore moved a step closer to recognition of composite as a construction material in the infra.
Recognized building material
Meanwhile, composite is a recognized building material in (bridge) construction and infra. FiberCore bridges with InfraCore® Inside are built to fit the Eurocode and CUR 96:2019; the standards for safe construction. The bridges are durable, maintenance-free and fit into a circular economy; they are completely and easily repositionable. And that's not a crazy idea, with bridges lasting more than 100 years.
The project
The Major Maintenance Bridges Municipality of Tholen is a project that was prepared in a construction team by the Municipality of Tholen and the contractor Aquavia. With cost transparency as the most important criterion, the most efficient interpretation of the maintenance budget for the bridges could be achieved. Sustainability was an important aspect in considering the desired solutions. This is how the project team arrived at the FiberCore solution. During the execution of the project, seven bridges were inspected by Aquavia, of which three were eventually replaced by composite bridges.