To reduce the number of failures in infrastructure, politicians should structurally reserve more money for maintenance of roads, tunnels and bridges. EVO argues that in a broadcast of EenVandaag.
Figures from Rijkswaterstaat in the hands of EenVandaag show that last year there were significantly more breakdowns to tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure. In 2015, 63 breakdowns occurred, in 2016 there were 142. Traffic Information Service (VID) claims that together these breakdowns caused many hundreds of kilometres of traffic jams. The breakdown at the Merwede Bridge in particular caused a lot of delay. After hairline cracks became visible in the structure, freight traffic was unable to cross the bridge for two months. The Afsluitdijk was also the scene of several hefty breakdowns. The bridges on both sides of the dyke are said to have suffered multiple failures this year. This caused long traffic jams and delays.
The shippers' organisation questions whether Rijkswaterstaat is releasing enough money for maintenance. Tunnels and bridges are kept in operation with 'stopgap measures', according to EVO, while a long-term maintenance programme is needed.
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