The Sneek Bridge - Wood Design & Building - Summer 2013

26
The Sneek Bridge
Heavy traffic road bridge in the Netherlands built with innovative wood product
The city of Sneek in the Province of Friesland, the Netherlands, has a rich maritime legacy. The
Province required a landmark entrance that represented this legacy. A design representing an
upturned fishing boat was chosen following a design competition.
The Sneek bridge, which runs
across A7 near the city districts of
Akkerwinde and Molenkrite, is a
1134-meter-long, two-lane traffic
bridge with an additional bicycle/
pedestrian lane. The bridge won the
2008 Public Prize for most striking
construction in Sneek.
wood design & building ‒ fall 2010
Culturally, the Dutch are a very
environmentally conscious society,
and the preference was to build a
wooden bridge. Accoya wood was
eventually chosen over concrete, steel
and tropical hardwood (Azobe) due
to its inherent lack of CO 2 emissions
per year. For example, Accoya repre-
sented over 50 per cent improvement
of CO 2 output compared to concrete.
Recognized with many environmental
certifications and awards,
Accoya wood is made using a
nontoxic, patented process that
effectively converts sustainably
grown softwoods and non-durable

Opposite and below: Approximately 1,200 cubic meters of Accoya wood was used in the production of the Sneek bridge.
The supporting beams that stretch into the sky are 1 x 1.4-m. thick and made by finger jointing and laminating processes.
wood design & building ‒ fall 2010 27

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Pre-stressed cables with a 180-ton force were used to
apply tension to the supporting beams. This induced
shrinkage of only 9mm in the principal girder
500 m3 of
Accoya ® wood
were used in its
construction.
This equates
to 255 tons of
timber and 13 full
truck loads
of Accoya ® wood.
hardwoods into a high-performance,
sustainable wood product that is
beautiful, durable and stable.
All bridges built in the Netherlands
must have a minimum 80-year lifespan.
Sneek commissioned a design
team to set a testing and qualification
program for Accoya which was
specific to the design project. The
expected life of a steel bridge was 55
years; pre-stressed concrete was 90
years; and tropical Azobe hardwood
was 45 years. Tests concluded that
Accoya wood’s outstanding durability
(over 80 years in the bridge
application) made it the perfect
material for use in the bridge.
Approximately 1,200 cubic
meters of Accoya wood was used in
the production of the Sneek bridge.
The supporting beams that stretch
into the sky are 1 x 1.4 meters thick
and made by finger jointing and
laminating processes. The Sneek
bridge was primarily manufactured
off site, then lifted into place for
final construction.
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wood design & building ‒ fall 2010
ARCHITECT
Achterbosch Architectuur
(Hans Achterbosch) and
Onix (Alex van de Beld, Haiko Meijer)
Leeuwarden, NL
CLIENT
Province of Friesland
Leeuwarden, NL
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Schaffitzel Holzindustrie GmbH
Schwäbisch Hall, NL
ENGINEERING
H.E. Lüning Adviesbureau voor
technische houtconstructies
Oranjewoud Mobiliteit &
Infrastructuur
GLC Houtconstructies
Leeuwarden, NL
WOOD PRODUCT SUPPLIER
Accsys Technologies
London, UK, Arnhem, NL and Dallas, TX