The city of The Hague is expanding, particularly with its recent addition of 11,000 unit housing program in the Ypenburg area. This new residential area is connected to the city center by the light-rail line 15. This 5,5-km long public transport line provides a fast and reliable connection, running through the existing urban infrastructure of The Hague and the municipalities of Rijswijk and Nootdorp, into which it has been fully integrated. The line has 8 stops and has an operation speed of 44-km/hr. During the design stages, special attention was given to the spatial integration of the line in its environment in combination with its operational safety. A great importance was also given to construction cost, realization planning, and the environmental impact.

The project itself included an eye-catching 350-m long architecturally designed fly-over that enables the Light-Rail to cross over an urban highway and its intersection with highway A13 without interference. The project also included a complex configuration of a 650-m concrete sheet pile retaining wall which doubles as a load-bearing structure for some viaducts. The structure was designed for crossing over the existing tram-line and 2-km of the urban highway with 2x2 traffic lanes, as well as several water management structures, such as siphons, culverts, and barrages. In addition, the project involved modifying an existing viaduct on Highway A4 to accommodate the Light-Rail to pass under it, traffic regulation systems for the rail-line’s intersection with local road infrastructure, as well as two PowerStations.

For this high profile project, one of the first of its kind in the Netherlands that actually materialized, Royal Haskoning provided a wide array of services including architectural and structural design, engineering, traffic management and environmental consultancy, as well the write up of tender documents and site supervision.

Hans van Oene
T +31 (0)24 3284 117
E Hans van Oene