Amsterdam’s Climate-Neutral Infrastructure

Amsterdam is a city known for its beautiful canals, and in turn, is also known for its bridges. But, they are taking steps to redefine these bridges and many other pieces of infrastructure to make this city sustainable. Many climate-neutral infrastructure measures have been created to rehabilitate over 850 bridges and over 200 kilometers of canal walls to meet social and environmental demands.

Amsterdam hopes to restore the structural integrity of the infrastructure in the city, which was made in the 17th century. After many years of wear and tear, as well as many changing populations, many pieces of infrastructure has deteriorated. In turn, engineers had to repair many of these canal walls, and created new bridge components to make sure that these structures are able to withstand 21st century loads.

Also, they are using materials in these projects such as bio-concrete, which absorbs CO2. Along with with this, they are using recycled materials that are locally sourced to reduce further footprint.

But, this project also aims to promote civilian mobility, and reduce their reliance on cars. In turn, they reconstructed these bridges to ensure cyclist safety in a city where there are many cyclists. This includes wider and dedicated cycling lanes that ensure safer travel for Amsterdam’s cyclists. Despite these changes being small, it creates major shifts for the movements of the millions of residents within this city.

The Amsterdam climate-neutral infrastructure measures are more than a renovation project. This collective measure from the city is a blueprint for how many urban centers can modernize infrastructure to become more sustainable. By tackling problems like climate change, citizen mobility, and preservation of historical infrastructure, the city is setting a standard of how structural, coastal, and many other civil engineers alike can use innovation to transform cities for the better.