The concrete foundation: regular and challenging

The concrete foundation for the apartment building and over a hundred ground-level homes in Erasmusveld, The Hague, was poured by Koster Betonwerken. That was no coincidence. Van Wijnen and Koster Betonwerken have known each other for a long time and regularly work together. "Then half a word is enough," knows Daniel Koster of Koster Betonwerken.

For the most part, the concrete foundation for the apartment building and ground-level housing consisted of regular work. Additional challenges occurred at the apartment building, where the foundation varies frequently in height and width. The light wells, transformer wells and beams also required extra attention. In the process, the weather did not cooperate at all. "It was an extremely wet period," says Koster. "That made for a muddy work situation. And then we also had to deal with a tight deadline. The work had to be realized in a short period of time. We managed that by putting in an extra crew of four men and extra formwork material."

Proprietary formwork system

The formwork material Koster Betonwerken works with is special. "The wooden formwork system was designed and developed entirely within our own company," explains Koster. "Our employees came up with the system themselves. It is aimed at working quickly and effectively. You reap the benefits of that - especially in situations like the Erasmus Field."

Flexible and decisive

The quick way in which Koster Betonwerken took on the aforementioned challenges proves characteristic of the down-to-earth Zeeland company. "We are too big for the napkin and too small for the tablecloth," Koster says of this. "We have the advantages of a small-scale company. That makes us agile, flexible and decisive. For example, the two shifts were not scheduled, but we had that extra manpower available. At the same time, we have the know-how and capacity to carry out large works successfully as well."