[The industry is crazy] In Amsterdam, 7,000 parking spaces for bicycles submerged under water

A gigantic car park with 7,000 bicycle spaces was inaugurated in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Particularity: it was built under a basin, hollowed out then refilled and refitted as needed. Amsterdam is recognized worldwide as one of the world’s top cycling specialties – some figures point to as many as 1 million bicycles in circulation among 880,000 inhabitants in the capital of the Netherlands. A success that requires the authorities to adapt, despite a constrained urban setting. They think they have found the option with a brand new car park, with 7,000 spaces, adjacent to the central station in order to promote multimodality… and immersed under a basin, the Open Havenfront, which has even gained in surface area. The boats have even just resumed their operation there, after four years of work. To carry out the work, the Dutch construction company Max Bögl began by lowering the surrounding tracks by 70 centimeters, in order to facilitate the movement of construction machinery in this downtown area. The route of a tram has been slightly modified. 85 million euros were needed for the overall put the project, which also induced a remodeling of the entrance to the central station and several bridges. YOUR INDICES source The car park during its building and construction. Credit: city of Amsterdam “An imaginary oyster” Apart from the gently sloping escalators that take cyclists 9 meters underground, the impression of entering an underground passage has been erased at several points. “The cyclist enters an imaginary oyster with a rough exterior of basalt and natural stone and a smooth and light interior”, narrates Wurck, the architectural firm in charge of the Stationsplein project. Convincing cyclists to descend into the car park was a necessity, since reserved spaces have been removed from adjacent streets. A second parking lot with 4,000 places will open at the end of February in the district: “Without bicycle racks, the street is easier to clean, it is tidy, well laid out and secure”, justifies the municipality of Amsterdam. In 2017, still in the Netherlands, the city of Utrecht inaugurated a more conventional underground car park, but here also reserved for bicycles, with 12,000 rentals. Selected put you ON THE SAME SUBJECT The booming bicycle market in France Groupe Savoy, Pracartis, M2O and Alpes Usinage are launching into the electric bicycle How the bicycle industry could create thousands of jobs in France source

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