‘Sluishuis’ Becomes a New Landmark for Amsterdam
Sluishuis, which means lock house in English, is a double cantilever structure that forms a bridge between IJburg and Amsterdam city centre. It has 442 carbon-neutral flats, a public green roof garden with a rooftop walkway, bird and recreational islands, jetties for boats, catering facilities and a two-storey underground car park below water level.
The sustainability of Sluishuis is an integral part of the project – it generates more energy than it consumes, thanks to high-performance insulation (with aluminium façade), triple glazing and heat recovery on the ventilation systems and wastewater. Energy consumption is further reduced by a heat and cold storage (CHS) system in the ground for heat and cooling in combination with a connection to the district heating system for peak times. The remaining energy consumption for heating, heat pumps, ventilation, and LED lighting is compensated by 2,200 sqm of solar panels, to which an entire floating island adjacent to the project is dedicated.
Work Starts on ‘World’s Longest’ Rail Tunnel
The Gola del Sill – Pfons section (Lot H41) involves a total of 22.5km of twin parallel railway tunnels between Gola del Sill, near the Alpine city of Innsbruck in the north, to the Town of Pfons, further south.
The Brenner Base Tunnel project underneath the Alps is part of the Scandinavia-Mediterranean corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and, when completed, will be the longest railway tunnel in the world at 64km.
The tunnel is being built by Webuild and its Swiss subsidiary, CSC Costruzioni in a 50-50 joint venture with partner Implenia.
The joint-venture was awarded the contract by BBT SE, a European public limited company created for the development of the tunnel. The 22.5km Gola del Sill – Pfons section will include 38 cross-passages plus access tunnels, exploratory tunnels and an underground emergency stop at Innsbruck. The contract also includes a new bridge to be built over the Brennero A13 highway.
