📋 Tender Overview
ProRail has found a temporary solution to strengthen the railway embankment in Gorinchem. There is a crack in that railway embankment. We will start in the night of 25 February with the installation of stackable concrete blocks in the ditch. These blocks provide counter pressure. There will be no trains until Monday morning, February 26.
Preparations
The crack in the railway embankment is located on the side of the houses near the Gruttershof. For the temporary solution with stackable blocks, we have permission from the municipality of Gorinchem and the Rivierenland Water Board.
Contractor Asset Rail will start the preparatory work on Thursday 22 February. They bring in sand, blocks and large wooden partitions from the level crossing at the Banneweg. We store these materials along the railway track. The level crossing will remain accessible to traffic: traffic controllers will ensure that road users can cross safely.
Reinforcement of the railway embankment
On Sunday 25 February at 1.30 a.m., we will start work to reinforce the railway embankment. We remove sludge from the ditch and place heavy wooden bulkheads at the bottom of the ditch. On top of that, we hoist the concrete stackable blocks. On Monday morning, February 26, at 5:30 a.m., all work will be completed.
The contractor is working on the railway. For the safety of employees, we have to remove the voltage from the overhead wires. As a result, no trains can run during this period. You can find an adjusted timetable on the Qbuzz website.
Speed Limiting
Once the blocks have been placed, we cannot immediately increase the speed of all trains. We first monitor whether the railway embankment is not moving and that the blocks therefore provide good counterpressure. Will the railway embankment remain stable? Then, step by step, we will make all trains run faster again. Qbuzz informs travellers about this.
Permanent repair of railway embankment
After temporarily reinforcing the railway embankment, we will start with its permanent repair. We will use the data we collected over the weekend of 25 February to investigate how the crack occurred. After that, we will determine how we can permanently strengthen the railway embankment. Only when the railway embankment has been fully repaired will we remove the concrete blocks from the ditch. The final repair of the railway embankment will take a number of months.
