Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 Ž2001.

225᎐234

Tunnelling of infrastructure: from non-considered to ill

considered ᎏ lessons from the Netherlands

Gerard ArendsU , Enne de Boer

Delft Uni¨ ersity of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

Received 11 June 2001; accepted 13 July 2001

Abstract

In The Netherlands, tunnels are in much Žpublic. demand since approximately 1980. Infrastructure is less tolerated in the
urban environment, especially when it is elevated above ground. Three different projects for which the authors acted as scientific
consultants can serve to demonstrate how problematic it can be to neglect an underground option on the one hand and to make
it dogmatic on the other. Existing infrastructure is often seen as both environmentally and commercially damaging, suppressing
urban land values. Reconstruction is a difficult task, though, in spite of modern techniques. The Helmond case, where an elevated
part of a main road separates the town centre and historical castle and blocks revitalisation of the area, is an adequate
demonstration. The proposed replacement with a tunnel proved to be ill considered, i.e. both difficult and costly. Even worse:
perhaps the town might do without the road after all! In developing new infrastructure, like high speed train links, urban
alignments are avoided because of public resistance. Yet these may prove to be acceptable if tunnelled, whereas an alignment in
the rare open countryside is locally despised. This proved to be true in the case of the Amsterdam᎐Antwerp High-Speed Railway
Line ŽHSL., for the passage of Dordrecht, south of Rotterdam. An urban underground solution was not considered in the
government studies. A local proposal, which proved to be quite feasible, was rejected, mainly because it was presented late in the
planning process. New types of infrastructure may be developed explicitly for underground use. Lorries are an ever-bigger
problem in local distribution, both for the environment and congestion and for trade, dependent on these. Therefore,
underground logistic systems ŽULS. are proposed more frequently. Perhaps the best-studied one is the Schiphol Airport ULS,
intended predominantly to connect air and rail terminals and the world’s largest flower auction at Aalsmeer. It showed that the
choice for an underground solution can be too dogmatic, not affordable and only partly necessary. Mixed solutions, partly
underground, partly on the surface and partly elevated were quite feasible and economically more attractive. 䊚 2001 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Alignment; Elevation; Decision making; Tunnelling technique; Urban environment

1. Introduction 1. The first motive is avoiding dangerous crossings in

1.1. The demand for underground transport infrastructure
in The Netherlands
In the Dutch lowlands, tunnelling used to be an
exception until approximately 1980. In fact, there were
considered to be only three motives for constructing
tunnels.
U the only feasible solution then.
Corresponding author. Tel.: q31-15-278-52-66; fax: 31-15-278-
78-28.
E-mail address: G.Arends@CT.TUDelft.NL ŽG. Arends..
roads and railways. For pedestrians and bicyclists
viaducts are not thought to be an attractive option
and therefore, many short tunnels have been built.
2. Longer tunnels were constructed for a second rea-
son: crossing ‘standing mast’ shipways, being able
to accommodate very tall ships. If transport on the
Žrail. road crossing is intensive, movable bridges
are impractical. High bridges are very long and not
without danger in stormy weather. Tunnelling is
3. Tunnel systems are traditional in metropolitan ar-
eas, where the competition for space is so heavy

0886-7798r01r$ - see front matter 䊚 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 8 6 - 7 7 9 8 Ž 0 1 . 0 0 0 4 3 - 8
226 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
that traffic has to be processed at different levels.
Elevated systems are a solution in less dense areas,
but in central districts underground solutions are
necessary for creating high capacity urban rail sys-
tems. In the Netherlands only the national capital,
Amsterdam and the giant port of Rotterdam devel-
oped metro systems and only so in the second half
of the twentieth century.
The soft soils of the Dutch ‘waterland’ are the cause
of a certain reluctance to construct tunnels and tunnel
systems on a large scale, although it led to a high
degree of expertise in immersed tunnel construction,
which was developed in the realisation of a series of
waterway crossings. Nowadays, more and more tunnels
under waterways are constructed with a drilling tech-
nique using modern TBMs, because of heavy water
traffic and little space on the river banks. For ‘inland
tunnels’ too, less intrusive tunnelling techniques Žcut
and cover or drilling. are in much demand.
The demand for ‘inlandtunnels’ as such is increasing
because the general public no longer accepts the da-
mage inflicted by large infrastructural projects on their
environment. Policy makers traditionally looked for the
most economic solutions, but under public pressure
they accept underground options which create or main-
tain a more sustainable environment, both from an
ecological and a societal perspective. Decision making
Fig. 1. Map of Helmond.
on underground construction has become more compli-
cated because of technical developments on the one
hand and societal ones on the other. The variety of
technical possibilities has increased considerably and so
has the political context with numerous actors or stake-
holders trying to influence the outcome of the planning
process.
In response to these developments, the role of the
TU Delft in developing underground solutions is multi
faceted as well. Of course, we participate in developing
new techniques, but increasingly we are involved in
multidisciplinary projects in which administrative, plan-
ning and technical aspects are studied in order to find
feasible solutions.
2. The problem of existing elevated infrastructure in
central districts: the castle thoroughfare of Helmond as
an ill-considered project
The town of Helmond Žliterally: hell’s mouth., east
of Eindhoven Žhometown of Philips electronics . devel-
oped near a castle, that still is the pride of the town: a
classical square ground plan; high walls; and towers on
every corner. The town flourished in the nineteenth
century, profiting from a north᎐south shipping canal
with a parallel road and an east᎐west railway line ŽFig.
1., the two crossing near the castle ŽFig. 2.. In approxi-
 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
Fig. 2. Helmond castle, view from the thoroughfare viaduct to the
south direction.
mately 1960, the east᎐west through traffic congested
the inner city. The movable bridge across the canal
augmented congestion. After an intensive debate, which
divided the local community, the decision was made to
build a road bypass with a high fixed bridge between
the town and the castle. It bridged the canal road and
castle lane as well ŽFig. 3.. The view of the castle from
the town was now spoiled thoroughly by a viaduct ŽFig.
4.. The opponents did accept the breakthrough as such,
but wanted a tunnel instead of the bridge. The town
could not afford it. However, in the zoning plan for the
area a zone along the bridge was reserved for a possi-
ble future tunnel.
During the following decades the traffic increased
continually. Therefore, the town tried to create by-
passes for the canal and for the canal road. The canal,
which had lost most of its function for trade, was
by-passed in approximately 1995, the road is expected
to be by-passed before 2010. It implies that the original
reasons for constructing the high bridge will disappear.
Over the years a decline of local industry led to
substantial decay in the canal and railway zones. A
process of redevelopment was started, first around the
railway station and later on along the canal, near the
castle. To exploit the potential of the historical site
Fig. 3. The thoroughfare viaduct with a movable bridge behind it,
view from the castle᎐canal side to the north.
227
Fig. 4. View alongside the viaduct from the canal side to the city
centre.
fully, a famous Italian architect, Boscotondo, was in-
vited to design the quarter. The presence of the viaduct
with its heavy load of traffic is thwarting further rede-
velopment though. It separates the Boscotondo project
from the town centre and depresses land values.
The political opposition in the town council took the
initiative to ask the TU Delft to design a tunnel to
replace the viaduct.
In several discussions, field visits and studies of avail-
able sources we developed a strategy for tackling the
matter ŽDe Boer et al., 1999.. Positive conclusions
concerning the feasibility of a tunnel solution could be
drawn only by answering the following questions:
1. The first question was whether the thoroughfare
had to stay where it was located. In fact, it served
as the main artery between Helmond and Eind-
hoven to the west and Deurne to the east. It is
quite unusual for trunk routes like this to be lo-
cated in the middle of the town. The local opinion
was that the road was essential for the vitality of
the town centre.
2. The second question was what could or should be
gained by building the tunnel, both environmen-
tally and financially. The local opinion was that the
whole castle area had to be by-passed vertically in
order to create an attractive urban environment
with further redevelopment opportunities. It would
require a tunnel with a closed part of several
hundred meters in length. The area to be recov-
ered by removing the viaduct and by reconstructing
adjacent properties was quite modest though.
3. The third question was how to construct a tunnel.
Regarding its modest length boring was not a real-
istic option: the additional depth required for con-
struction in soft soil would cause a length far
greater than necessary. Therefore, the tunnel would
have to be constructed from the surface, which
would have to be cleared before. Alas, the zone
228 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
reserved for a tunnel in the 1960s had been used
for the Boscotondo project. It meant that the tun-
nel should have exactly the same location as the
viaduct. In order to construct the tunnel, traffic
would have to be diverted during the demolition
and construction process. The viaduct was rather
over-dimensioned: it had a cross section with four
lanes; two cycle lanes; and footpaths. Theoretically
one might demolish one half of the viaduct and
build one half of the tunnel in its place. However,
the integrated construction of the viaduct made
this impossible. In a certain sense, we had to return
to the first question: where to leave the voluminous
traffic from the thoroughfare. We surveyed the
municipal network and found various historical ef-
forts to develop bypasses to the north and to the
south, which could be used for traffic diversions.
The network as a whole, however, was developed
so haphazardly, that congestion would be unavoid-
able. Local street widening did not look impossible
though.
4. The fourth question was that of construction cost, a
most important one, certainly because financial
benefits to be gained by redevelopment would be
modest. The local ideal was to connect the tunnel
to underground parking garages, which of course
would have an impact on both profile and construc-
tion cost. The best fitting tunnel for regional traffic
without these ‘extra’s’ was estimated to cost
$20 000 000 ᎏ disregarding temporary measures
for traffic. It was quite unlikely that the municipal-
ity would be able to afford this, even with national
subsidies for urban reconstruction it was entitled
to.
5. The last question, to be answered by local politics,
was and still is whether there can be found a
balance between accessibility of the town centre,
an attractive environment and the cost of combin-
ing those. We developed systematically variants of
the tunnel regarding length and cross section with
different effects on accessibility and amenity. The
town is now developing scenarios for different
courses of action regarding redevelopment, traffic
recirculation and infrastructural adaptations.
Creating a central artery, like the famous Boston
example had caused the problem in Helmond. It could
not do without grade crossings. The choice for partial
elevation instead of suppression proved to be detrimen-
tal to urban amenity and redevelopment. The most
important reasons for grade crossings, the canal and
the canal road have disappeared or will disappear,
respectively. The fact that for construction of a tunnel,
predominantly for reasons of amenity, traffic has to be
diverted for quite some time makes the study of perma-
nent bypassing of a substantial part of the traffic ur-
gent. A modest road on ground level might handle
traffic that is of vital importance for the town centre,
which is perfectly compatible with the environment.
Replacing an elevated solution with a depressed one,
an elevated bypass with an underground one, should be
systematically compared with replacing it with a hori-
zontal bypass, maybe longer, but maybe cheaper as
well.
In the Helmond case, the idea of a tunnel might be
called ill considered.
3. The problem of new surface infrastructure through
rare and vulnerable landscape. The case of the High
Speed Link South through the vulnerable Devel area.
An example of (sadly) non-considered
In the Netherlands, expansion of the highway and
airport infrastructure is met with general rejection. In
approximately 1990, large schemes for railway expan-
sion were developed instead. The most important lines
to be added are a trunk freight line to Germany The
‘Betuwe route’ and a high-speed link to the French
network, the ‘HSL South’, Fig. 5 shows the HSL line.
Open country with qualities regarding landscape and
nature has become rare and deserves protection be-
cause of that. For the HSL South, linking Amsterdam,
Rotterdam and the Belgian town of Antwerp, a fast
and short route was designed. Upgrading the existing
line was rejected as either too expensive or harmful for
the environment. For the Amsterdam᎐Rotterdam part
the new route implied an alignment through the so-
called ‘Green Heart’ of the Dutch Randstad Žfringe
town.. This being taboo, a substantial part of it is
tunnelled. It is to be constructed before 2010. The
tunnel will be bored because of the sanctity of the area.
South of Rotterdam the line will cross the ‘Devel
area’, a restful landscape along a river branch with
distinct qualities, like a varied, typically Dutch diking
history. In a heavily urbanised area, it is the last
opportunity for rural recreation. Directly south of the
Devel area, a waterway, the river Old Maas, has to be
crossed by means of a tunnel and after - 10 km a
second tunnel has to be made across the next water-
way. The possibility of making the Old Maas tunnel
longer, passing underneath the Devel area too, has
been studied. It was rejected because of the additional
cost that was thought to be politically unjustified.
The town of Zwijndrecht, to support a citizen group
opposing the alignment, hired TU Delft Ži.e. the second
author.. Citizen groups of some quality tend to attack
the project as such, the alignment or the elevation. This
group decided to concentrate on local problems, i.e. to
plea for a longer tunnel Žstudied in the project papers.,
to develop the argument against cutting the Devel area
into two pieces Žwhich the surface solution would do.
 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234 229

Fig. 5. Alignment overview of the Zwijndrecht and Devel area.

and to look for possibilities to improve the existing
railway line. We encouraged a search for alternative
routes, putting the burden on adjacent areas. The TU
Delft produced a report with two elements:
1. An analysis of the qualities of the area and;
2. A proposal to remove the most problematic pas-
sage of the existing railway line.
In the adjacent town of Dordrecht, the railway line
makes a sharp curve that restricts operational speed.
Residences are located so close to the tracks that noise
nuisance and risk are serious problems and railway
widening is hardly feasible. A survey of the town quar-
ter within the curve showed that it was astonishingly
easy to make a shortcut. It proved that a corridor had
been reserved for it in the past. The shortcut is indi-
cated in Fig. 5 as ‘Shortcut’. To prevent new environ-
mental problems, a tunnel of approximately 1.5 km
would be required. This could be provided with a
230 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
station for intercity trains, to be connected with the old
railway station by way of a footpath or travelator. The
worst environmental problems would have been solved
and Dordrecht would have kept its main line station,
which it will lose because intercity trains will use the
HSL bypass through the Devel area.
The reaction of the town was not antagonistic. How-
ever, national government rejected the idea resolutely,
predominantly because of an insufficient design speed.
It was an ideological reaction, because the time loss as
compared with the government proposal was quite
modest.
We did not develop any proposal for a longer short-
cut with a higher design speed through the town of
Zwijndrecht, because we thought it to be impossible.
Half a year later, Mr Willem Bos, a civil engineer who
had made it a hobby to study alignments for potential
improvement, drew such a shortcut though. At first
sight, a ridiculous one indeed, even if put into a tunnel
as he proposed. A second effort looked more plausible
though and it drew the attention of national Parlia-
ment that valued the fact that both the Devel area and
a rural district south of the river Old Maas would gain
from it. It demanded an additional study of this alter-
native route. The Minister of Transport conceded, but
under the condition, that developing and eventual con-
structing would not slow down the project as a whole
and would not be more expensive than the preferred
Devel alternative, indicated in Fig. 5 as option Fn.
Strangely enough, the town of Zwijndrecht was posi-
tively interested in an alignment cutting through its
built up area, albeit underground. It did not trust the
Ministry to do an objective study and gave an assign-
ment to the TU Delft Žboth authors. for an indepen-
dent study in co-operation with Mr Bos ŽArends et al.,
1997.. Careful analysis and adaptation of the Bos align-
ment showed that a tunnel could be fitted relatively
easily into the urban fabric, ironically because it fol-
lowed a substantial part of the dry former bed of the
river Devel, of which the wet part was to be protected.
Only one apartment house, a modest number of family
homes and a few commercial buildings would be af-
fected. The Bos alignment is indicated in Fig. 5 as
option Fd Ž ds Drecht-towns..
Fig. 6. Settlement sensitive areas for three bored options compared to cut and cover construction.
The boundary conditions for the tunnel showed large
differences:
䢇 In the northern section, a crossing and connection
to be made with the existing infrastructure Žeight
lane highway and four track railway line..
䢇 In the middle section, residential buildings to be
avoided as much as possible.
䢇 In the southern section, a deep waterway crossing
with on both sides industrial areas and sensitive
dike constructions.
On the basis of these differences, various tunnelling
techniques and combinations of those had to be con-
sidered with respect to cost, risk for the stability of
existing structures and nuisance from construction and
operation for the environment. The following tun-
nelling techniques and accompanying subjects can be
distinguished:
䢇 Bored tunnel. Regarding the sensitive environment
and the length of the tunnel one tends to consider
this technique. There are three problems though:
1.1. The relatively wide impact zone under-
ground with the risk of effecting pile founda-
tions ŽFig. 6..
1.2. The flexibility of the tunnel construction with
the risk of passing vibrations to the pile
foundations.
1.3. Because of the deep position under the river
Ž) 25 km below mean water level. the tunnel
would be longer than necessary in the south-
ern section.
䢇 Cut and Cover tunnel to be applied at the land
sections. Of course construction nuisance is a prob-
lem. The impact zone is narrower though and the
vibration risk is limited because of the possible
rigidity construction ŽFig. 6..
䢇 Immersed tunnel to be applied at and near the
crossing with the river Old Maas. The long standing
experience and the relatively low cost could make
this advantageous. The existing dock used for the
 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
construction of segments for a series of tunnels at
the town of Barendrecht is close by.
Our proposal is shown in Fig. 5, alignment Fd. The
problem of construction nuisance of a cut and cover
tunnel was studied in a MSc thesis of one of our
students. It proved to be manageable ŽRiesebosch,
1998..
The town of Zwijndrecht, which would suffer espe-
cially from tunnel construction in a residential area,
showed a remarkably positive attitude and the resi-
dents concerned proved to be far from hostile on a
neighbourhood meeting on the outcomes of our study.
The fact that the natural part of the Devel area would
remain unaffected was the explanatory factor. The town
of Dordrecht now was disapproving the Devel ŽFn.
alignment without much argument, which made it the
Minister of Transport easy to conclude that the Bos
ŽFd. alignment did not comply with one of her condi-
tions: no time losses. The Ministry of Transport stuck
to the alignment cutting the Devel area into two pieces,
too small to maintain its qualities. In the voluminous
project papers, the area was recognised to be of con-
siderable value. Nevertheless, the Minister refused to
make investments in a longer river tunnel which would
have left the area unaffected.
The Ministry could not be accused of developing too
few alternative alignments, but one might say, that it
did not use the right criteria for development. On the
basis of the operational train speed chosen at 300
kmrh, only alignments avoiding urbanised areas were
developed. It resulted in a very long bypass of the
towns of Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht with two costly
tunnels to pass major waterways. Sticking for longer to
the existing straight main railway line and making a
tunnel bypass through these towns should have been
investigated from the start of the planning process. It
might have been chosen then.
Meanwhile this type of exercise has been done in the
case of another railway line, the Hanse line, in which
both authors were involved in different roles.
4. The solutions of completely underground systems.
The case of the Amsterdam Airport Underground
Logistic System. The problem of exaggeration
Amsterdam Airport is one of the most thriving air-
ports in Europe. For passenger transport, it is fourth in
size, with only Frankfurt, London, Heathrow and Paris,
Charles de Gaulle above it. For cargo, it is even more
important. The development of hub airports like this
may cause considerable ground transport congestion
and environmental nuisance around it. Airport expan-
sion has a history of some forty years of conflict in the
present case. The road infrastructure around the air-
231
port is expanded only reluctantly. Especially, the regio-
nal network around the airport and the airport’s infras-
tructure itself are becoming continually more con-
gested ŽFig. 7..
Commercial enterprises in central business districts
are suffering even more from inaccessibility. Especially,
for urban goods distribution, collective solutions are
sought. These may take different shapes:
䢇 Distribution centres to which lorries deliver goods
and smaller vehicles collect these for a specific
neighbourhood. In this way, the large vehicles will
lose less time and the streets are relieved from
them.
䢇 A more radical solution is the creation of an under-
ground distribution system. Ideally, clients are con-
nected directly to the system. The investment re-
quired is so substantial though, that even in the
most prosperous districts only a few stations are
affordable.
In the Netherlands, both types of solutions have
been studied to some extent but neither one was yet
realised.
The World’s largest flower auction at Aalsmeer, - 10
km from Amsterdam Airport, is very dependent on
reliable transport connections, especially with the air-
port. Fresh flowers should reach the flower shop within
24 h after leaving the auction. Flowers are imported
from countries like Colombia and exported to Hong
Kong and Russia for instance. Presently, the auction is
accessible by road only. The connecting regional road
is suffering from increasing congestion. The risk of
missing a plane is consequently growing. The flower
auction took the initiative of developing an Under-
ground Logistic System. It was supported by the Min-
istries of Economic Affairs and Transport that share a
programme for research and development of under-
ground construction.
The airport itself suffers from congestion both inter-
nally and on the roads to its hinterland. Internally, it is
predominantly a problem of the connection between
cargo areas on both sides of the most important run-
way. Externally it is the common problem of increasing
traffic flows and reluctance to expand the road infras-
tructure. According to national policy it has to become
more of a ‘rail airport’, discouraging both car traffic at
the land side and short distance flights at the air side.
Its High-Speed Railway Line ŽHSL. passenger station
is supposed to support this concept. The addition of a
HSL cargo terminal is considered as shown in Fig. 7.
The idea of an Underground Logistic System ŽULS.
started as an underground transport route between
flower auction and airport. In a first outline, a system
connecting the auction, different airfreight terminals
and the eventual railway terminal was sketched. The
232 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234

Fig. 7. Network and alternative alignments of ULS.

network length might be up to 30 km, the number of
stations up to 10 km, serving important forwarders and
distribution centres too.
In order to get a better idea of possible qualities and
quantities of the system three prestigious institutions
were assigned to do a ‘definition study’:
1. The Dutch Economic Institute ŽNEI.;
2. The national institute for applied natural science
ŽTNO. and;
3. The inter-university research school for transport
TRAIL.
For TRAIL, the first author led the tunnel study and
the second author the study of the system’s alignment.
In the design of a system like the ULS a number of
questions have to be raised:
1. What is the function of the system: a logistic sys-
tem and not just a transport system? It implies that
destinations, Žre.grouping of freight and inter-
change with other transport modes must be con-
sidered.
2. What mode of transport is needed? One might
think of automated individual rail vehicles, fed by
an electric rail and with an electronic guidance, but
hardly any of these features are self-evident. Fig. 8
shows an inside-view of a possible ULS terminal
with Automated Guided Vehicles ŽAGV..
3. What should be the maximum dimensions of the
 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
Fig. 8. Inside view of an ULS terminal with AGVs ŽAutomated
Guided Vehicles..
loads, i.e. the standard packing units to be used?
ŽFig. 9..
These considerations have considerable conse-
quences for terminal design and especially for the
tunnel profile. The discussion on the profile was most
intense. The opinions of the experts involved varied
widely. Some defended a profile allowing for the ac-
commodation of aeroplane topdeck containers, leading
to an internal tunnel diameter of approximately 5 m.
The investment would be prohibitive though. Other
experts pleaded for a modest profile based on the use
of the ‘Euro’ pallet, used widely in urban distribution.
The tunnel diameter based on the Euro pallet would be
approximately 3 m. Fig. 9 shows the tunnel diameter vs.
the freight size. It would make the project a realistic
pilot for this interesting application, but required logis-
tic changes for the flower auction. It had an under-
ground connection in mind and not so much a logistic
system.
It was clear from the beginning that the diameter of
the pipe would have a tremendous effect on the invest-
ment costs. In the case of Amsterdam Airport, more
Fig. 9. Tunnel diameter vs. freight size.
233
than one transport module is in use: air containers;
road containers; flower wagons; and smaller packing
units. It proved to be a very hard discussion to decide
upon the normative packing because of the different
interests of the stakeholders. Every choice in tunnel
diameter had an impact on the logistic systems in use
by the various parties. Whilst the discussion concerning
the diameter continued, the study was performed for a
system with the inner diameters of 5 and 3 m ᎏ the
5-m system largely using a TBM drilling technique with
a segmented tunnel-lining and the 3-m system a pipe-
jackingrmicrotunnelling construction technique. As
could be expected, the 5-m choice involved an invest-
ment cost approximately twice as much as the 3-m
solution Ž$500 million as against $250 million. ŽArends
and Joustra, 1996..
The total capacity of a 5-m system is by far exceeding
the total required transport capacity and as a conse-
quence, it is hard to finance. The 3-m solution is more
promising. Nevertheless, the choice of diameter was
decided upon the 5-m option, mainly because of the
Aeroplane Topdeck Containers, obviously demanding a
direct train-transport directly from aeroplane to far
away destinations, e.g. Paris or Milan, without repack-
aging in smaller units.
At the same time, Amsterdam Airport finds it more
and more difficult to organise effective transports on
both rail and road to the hinterland caused by an ever
increasing traffic volume on the roads surrounding the
airport. As a result in a combined effort by the Flower
Auction and Amsterdam Airport a study was made into
the possibilities of an underground logistic system con-
necting Amsterdam Airport with the Flower Auction
and a soon-to-be-constructed High Speed Line Termi-
nal, see Fig. 7.
The TU Delft was deeply involved regarding the
possible underground alignments, the required diame-
ter and the consequential investment costs. One of the
boundary conditions was that the system had to be
100% underground. It became clear that the high cost
was largely the consequence of the exaggerated de-
mand for a total underground system. At present the
234 G. Arends, E. de Boer r Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 16 (2001) 225᎐234
project is still under development, whereby major route
sections have been transferred from the subsurface to
the surface, thus bringing the financing within the
possibilities.
In the alignment study, a number of aspects was
investigated:
䢇 Creating an optimal network between the intended
terminals: a balance between short infrastructure
lines and short transport lines, i.e. serving heavier
flows with priority.
䢇 Finding alignments that would be least conflicting
with underground and surface structures: avoiding
the long piles of existing and planned buildings; and
crossing other infrastructures at right angles if pos-
sible.
䢇 Deciding, on the basis of present and foreseeable
future land use, where an underground location
would be necessary and where a cheaper elevated
or even a surface solution for the tubular system
might be sufficient.
The 100% subterranean character of the system has
the advantage of being protected from external influ-
ences, like weather and theft. However, there are dis-
advantages too. The investment required can be justi-
fied only where and when land values are extreme. The
cost of interchanges and terminals are such that the
system should surface at the respective locations if
possible. The invisibility of the system might be called a
disadvantage too: if part of it were visible; it no doubt
would attract more of the attention it deserves.
The alignment study led to a layout that differed
strongly from the original one. Tunnelling was neces-
sary especially in the core of the airport, across run-
ways and platforms. The business development around
the airport has such a spacious layout that the addition
of an elevated tube would be an attractive addition.
The application of underground construction only in
places where it is strictly necessary or less expensive
would enlarge the feasibility of the project consider-
ably, see Fig. 7 for two alternative examples named A1
and A2 ŽDe Boer and Regt, 1996..
It proved that the combination of a large diameter
and an extended network was not affordable. The na-
tional government refused to make the necessary con-
tributions to construction cost. One part of the system
will be constructed: the internal network of the airport.
By relocating the HSL cargo terminal to the central
area of the airport it might be connected relatively
cheaply with this core network.
The original idea that sparked the whole operation,
an underground connection between Flower Auction
and the airport, is not unlikely to be replaced with a
quite surprising solution. An old railway alignment,
shown in Fig. 8 as A3, is passing both the airport and
the Flower Auction at a relatively close distance. It is
reconstructed as a busway. In the definition study, we
considered to use the underground dimension of it for
the ULS tube. Alas, it was used already for pipes and
cables. Now the idea is to use the busway for the
automated ULS vehicles as well.
In the case of the Amsterdam airport ULS project,
one could conclude that the exaggerated first demand
of a 100% underground solution has hampered a speedy
realisation of the project. A better approach would
have been to study just the overall possibilities and
requirements, both above and underground thus, avoid-
ing the well-known planning mistake of starting with
solutions instead of problem analyses.
5. Conclusions
Studies such as those presented in this paper show
clearly that the underground option should be included
into the planning process of infrastructure, especially in
urbanised areas, but not only there. It may open oppor-
tunities for different alignments and even for different
transport systems. However, it is not advisable to build
underground castles in the air. It may be just as coun-
terproductive as thoughtlessly building on the ground.
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