A58 viaduct near Breda closes until Tuesday for inspection
Rijkswaterstaat, the national roads agency, advises drivers to avoid the Breda region on Monday 2 November while it inspects the Royaaldreef viaduct.
The A58 viaduct Royaaldreef at the Sint-Annabosch junction near Breda will close from Friday 30 October to Tuesday 3 November. Rijkswaterstaat is inspecting the structure and working on it. The work continues until Tuesday morning.
Rijkswaterstaat expects Monday 2 November to be very busy, especially around Breda, and says the work may cause considerable disruption on surrounding roads. It advises road users to avoid the region that day if they can.
On one side of the viaduct, crews will remove asphalt and concrete in some places so they can inspect the reinforcement more closely. They will then fit sensors to monitor the viaduct.
Since spring a steel structure has supported the viaduct. It keeps the viaduct open without a weight restriction for heavy traffic, unlike at the Merwedebrug. Since the weakness was found early this year, trucks have been banned from overtaking and the hard shoulder on the viaduct has been closed. Rijkswaterstaat stresses that the viaduct is safe to use.
Rijkswaterstaat says the weekend's investigation should lead to a lasting solution that strengthens the viaduct's load-bearing capacity for the coming years.
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Rijkswaterstaat
Rijkswaterstaat is the Dutch national agency for water and road infrastructure, part of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. It builds, manages and maintains the national motorways, main roads, bridges and viaducts, the main waterways, and the flood defences. When it closes or inspects a national road structure such as a viaduct, it is the body carrying out that work.