Hofpleinlijn

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

Double-track concrete RAILWAY VIADUCT and wider END PLATFORM of the Hofpleinlijn, with a total length of 1900 metres, constructed in 1904-1908 across the then still undeveloped northern part of the city, between the Ceintuurbaan and the Hofplein, on the initiative of the Zuid-Hollandsche Electrische Spoorweg-Maatschappij (Z.H.E.S.M.), established for this purpose in 1900. The viaduct forms part of a local railway connection 'De Hofpleinlijn' which connects Rotterdam Noord (Hofplein) via Berkel-Rodenrijs, Pijnacker, Nootdorp and Voorburg with Scheveningen and Den Haag.

The first design for the viaduct of this first electric railway in the Netherlands was provided by the Hague engineering firm Beversen and Van Heurn, which had obtained expertise from the then famous concrete bridge builder, the firm Hennebique in Paris. This design was adapted by ir. A.C.C.G. van Hemert, lecturer in applied mechanics. Ultimately the construction was contracted to the 'Hollandsche Maatschappij tot het maken van werken in Gewapend Beton', which had been established shortly before by Van Hemert himself. Engineers from the Staatsspoor (H.IJ.S.M.) were closely involved in the technical execution. The electric motive power and the reinforced concrete construction attracted particular international attention within the construction world. Already during construction, wooden shop fronts were installed beneath a number of viaduct arches. In the following years, increasingly more arches along the Voorburgstraat and the Vijverhofstraat were fitted out for various uses such as shop, warehouse, office and garage.

N.B. The platforms of the railway terminus were originally connected via a platform building to the Hofpleinstation built in 1908 in Transitional style to the design of architect J.P. Stok. The station with a representational round facade facing the Hofplein was completely destroyed early in the war. However, the upper platform hall remained in use. Due to the construction of the railway tunnel, the last remnant of Hofpleinstation had to disappear in 1990. Shops, warehouses and a few garages were established fairly soon after completion in the arches along the Voorburgstraat. In the early part of the war, emergency shops were constructed in the arches between the Veurstraat and the Bergselaan, on the side of the Insulindestraat. At the end of the 1940s an intermediate station was constructed on the north side of the Bergweg. This building with trapezoidal windows and an expressive concrete canopy, to the design of architect S. Van Ravesteijn, falls outside monument protection due to the fifty-year limit. In 1959-1960 a prestressed concrete structure was projected over the existing viaduct, by which the superstructure of the viaduct was slightly widened for the safety of the track workers. The old cast-iron railings on consoles were replaced by a simple iron balustrade. In that same period the viaduct over the Heer Bokelweg was replaced by a new concrete span with two bridges on concrete piers. In the wider end platform, the spans of the viaduct are bricked up on all but a few arches.

Description

Completely double-track railway viaduct with a length of 1900 metres originally constructed between the Ceintuurbaan and the Hofplein, with two shallow curves (at the level of the Bergweg-Veurstraat and the Heer Bokelweg-Zomerhofstraat) turning in a northerly direction. The viaduct has a total of 189 spans, varying from 7.20 to 9.45 metres. There are 14 road underpasses for the crossing roads, of which those at the Heer Bokelweg, the Zomerhofstraat, the Bergselaan and the Gordelweg are the widest. The last arch, after the Gordelweg spans the Noorderkanaal constructed at the beginning of this century. The entirely reinforced viaduct is executed in accordance with the Melan concrete construction applied by Van Hemert, in which the reinforcement consists of 'rigid structures of angle and N/P-profiles'. The piers of the street crossings form the rigid construction points of the viaduct; where these are at great distances from one another, or where this was otherwise required from a structural viewpoint, the span is executed with an intermediate abutment. The viaduct was built in two phases. The first section, the straight section between the Teilingerstraat and the Bergweg was completed in 1904-1905. During this phase 63 small arches, 6 street spans with a total of 12 abutments and 2 central piers - the widest has a skew span over the Zomerhofstraat and measures some 22 metres - and 58 piers were constructed. The second section, the section between the Bergweg and the Ceintuurbaan and the section from the Teilingerstraat towards the Hofplein with the connection of the wider railway terminus was completed between 1905-1908. The viaduct section has a length of 961 metres and consists of 79 arches with a span varying between 7.40 and 9.45 metres, 8 street spans of which the two widest over the Gordelweg and the Bergselaan are respectively 40.79 metres and 25 metres and successively have a 4 and a 2.5 metre wide central pier which divides the span into two bridges. Furthermore this section has 5 intermediate abutments at the Gordelweg and an end abutment at the Noorderkanaal. The wider end platform has 15 arches on the west side (the Raampoortstraat) and 17 arches on the east side (Katshoek). The concrete viaduct ended just before the Ceintuurbaan and was here originally continued by an iron railway bridge over the track. The piers and the intermediate abutments of the viaduct are clad with hardstone slabs and provided with a hardstone rusticated base. The top of the viaduct arches is finished with artificial sandstone into which decorative lines and stylised figures are incorporated. A number of arches is provided at the bottom with decorative scrollwork. Along the Insulindestraat there are stylised fan figures on a number of arches. On both sides of the wider street crossings along a large part of the viaduct sculptured natural stone figures in the style of the Vienna Secessionist movement are installed. The ornaments, created by The Hague sculptor Jan Altorf, comprise four groups: - the initials of the ZHESM and the completion dates of the viaduct sections - symbols for design, construction, industry and trade - plants and animals living in the polder and dunes - municipal coats of arms of the places connected by the new line.

On the end platform on the side of the Raampoortstraat part of the original cast-iron railings are still present. The arches first put into use, along the Voorburgstraat, were provided with traditional wooden shop and warehouse fronts executed with moulded doors and windows. Of these 8 have been preserved. The emergency shops placed during the war in the arches between the Veurstraat and the Bergselaan, on the side of the Insulindestraat, have business iron fronts with a uniform layout of double wooden doors in the middle flanked by two six-pane rectangular windows and a likewise two-part fanlight. Along the Insulindestraat meanwhile nine arches have been bricked up.

Valuation

Completely double-track concrete railway viaduct for the first Dutch electric railway, built between 1904-1908, of general importance due to innovative structural and technical value, as well as of importance from an architectural-historical, cultural-historical and urban design viewpoint.