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001421
2026-09-03

Temporary Craneway at Amsterdam Central Station, Netherlands

A temporary steel craneway was erected for Platform 4 at Amsterdam Central Station. The structure supports the work being done at the station and was designed in such a way that it can be dismantled later and reused elsewhere. RFEM was used to perform the structural analysis and analyze various load scenarios. Among other things, the analysis took into account crane positions, wind and temperature effects, and varying soil conditions.

The craneway essentially consists of two continuous longitudinal beams made of HEB 550 steel sections with a total length of approximately 200 m. The longitudinal beams are generally supported at intervals of about 12 m (39.4 ft) by steel frames made of HEB 700 sections. Depending on their location, the frames are founded either on the existing station structure or on newly constructed piles. Horizontal stiffening is provided by rigid frame joint connections. To facilitate the future reuse of the structure and simplify assembly, the number of welded connections was reduced to a minimum.

A comprehensive finite element model was created in RFEM 6 for the craneway analysis. Various crane positions as well as different wind load cases and temperature effects were taken into account. Since part of the craneway is located beneath the station roof, while other areas are exposed to the elements, different wind and temperature conditions were applied to the respective areas.

Furthermore, three different soil stiffness scenarios were analyzed. This allowed to determine the influence of different horizontal pile stiffnesses on the structural behavior and the resulting deformations of the craneway.

Based on the large total length of the structure, several frames with sliding supports were created. They enable the craneway to absorb temperature-induced axial strains and thereby eliminate excessive constraint forces resulting from the temperature changes.

Location 1012 AA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Investor
Object Monitoring
Steel Manufacturer
Structural Design


Project Specifications

Model Data

Number of Nodes 1572
Number of Lines 1327
Number of Members 1138
Number of Surfaces 66
Number of Solids 0
Number of Load Cases 59
Number of Load Combinations 580
Number of Result Combinations 0
Total Weight 583.285 t
Dimensions (Metric) 217.253 x 31.834 x 31.241 m
Dimensions (Imperial) 712.77 x 104.44 x 102.5 feet

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