Project for tunnels, bridges, viaducts (design)

Hills are rare in the Netherlands, but where a river flows, a valley exists. The river Regge is such a watercourse in the east of the country. In the beginning of the 19^th century textile factories sprang up where a main road crossed the river. The community was named Nijverdal, Dutch for Industrious Valley.

Railroad and highway carved two separate trails. Industry disappeared, traffic increased. Local pub owner Leo ten Brinke started a protest that resulted in a plan that utilizes tunnels, bridges and viaducts, to join two streams of traffic and to separate them from local transport.

A community that was split in two is whole once more. Through traffic flows at its edge. The local route regains its function as the main street. A tangle of traffic is unraveled, creating a new urban fabric. The restrained design from span to bridge railing forms the warp and weft.