The Netherlands
loose mortar. Despite the risk that this may be
washed out by the current, the stones are not set
in concrete: the site manager prefers to undertake
new pointing work than the alternative, which is to
repair frost-damaged concrete.
The furniture on the low quay is nautical. The bol-
lards have sufficient tensile strength for mooring
passenger and cargo vessels, tour boats, and
occasionally such exceptional vessels as the Red
Cross ship J. Henry Dunant. The bollards have been
designed to be stronger than strictly necessary for
the traffic in question; thanks to their extra size,
they also provide passers-by with excellent inciden-
tal seating. The bolts with which they are fixed are
weaker than the quay wall. It is better to acciden-
tally have a bollard tipped into the water than dam-
age to the wall itself.
These bollards have been prefabricated in a limited
series of 20, each bollard and baseplate being cast
in a single piece. Their black coating will enable them
to withstand long periods under water. They are also
fitted with shearing pins that will snap if a bollard is
subjected to too high a tensile force. This will prevent
damage to the sheet-piling of the quayside.
The high river quay
The high quay is an attractive quay lined with impos-
ing houses. A row of trees divides the space upon
it into two areas: one between these buildings
and the promenade and one on the water’s edge.
Standing at a distance from the houses, these trees
will be relatively transparent, thus ensuring both
that residents derive maximum benefit from the
wonderful views across the river, and also ensuring
that the quay looks very different in summer than
in winter.
Semi-hard paving beneath the trees provides plenty
of suitable space for strollers. Nearer to the façades,
overall appearances are stonier. Against the façade
itself is a sidewalk that creates a transitional zone
with stairs along the houses.
Constituting a green promenade along the river, the
high quay provides a softer, greener counterpoint
to the low quay. The area of housing lying behind
it consists of a succession of blocks with enclosed
gardens and a square.
The quay wall
First and foremost, the wall of the quay is intended
to serve as a defence against the river. Because
of the widely fluctuating water levels, construction
work had to be completed in the shortest possible
time. For functional reasons, it was decided to use
prefabricated concrete elements for wall and steps
alike. Behind this wall, the quay consists of a so-
called ‘theoretical dike profile’, i.e. an earth body in
