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Tervuren cycling bridge delayed because it is 'heavier than expected'
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.