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You are here: Home Housing Where to Live Houses sink under ground

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15/09/2008Houses sink under ground

Houses sink under ground. Amsterdam metro lives up to name.

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen has for the first time expressed doubts about Amsterdam's North-South Line, a new metro line scheduled for completion in 2015. "I realize the credibility of the project is suffering. It is a cause for concern." 

In June work on the underground tunnel was suspended for three months after water seeped through the enormous concrete slabs, causing four houses to subside. The municipal authorities said that "A responsible plan for renovation was undertaken and the work was carried out with optimal precision." On Monday the repairs were completed and work on the tunnel was resumed. On Wednesday evening residents of four 17th-century buildings which adjoin the construction site heard "remarkable noises". "A short time later pieces of grit began to fall, followed by plaster from the walls and pieces of ceiling." The 20 residents have been evacuated and may not be able to return to their homes for years to come. Three other houses have also been damaged.
  
Architect Wolbert Vroom, who owns three of the buildings, told de Volkskrant that there were "phenomenal" cracks in the walls, several centimetres wide and up to five metres in length. He says the buildings' foundations have sunk up to 24 centimetres. 
Photo right: Amsterdam Vijzelgracht buildings
subsided after tunnel work (NOS picture)
 
 
Lost confidence
The problem is that the construction workers have reached a depth of 15 metres and the deeper they go the greater the pressure. However the diggers are less than halfway, since the tunnel will be 40 metres deep. 
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