Combined road equipment in Horsens

Schüttesvej, one of the main access roads to Horsens, has been expanded from two to four lanes. DAV NORDIC supplied products from three of its four business areas for this project, providing an innovative solution to a familiar problem.

  • Service: 180 m noise barrier, 332 guardrails (H1/W1), 5 custom poles for mounting on the noise barrier, and 60 energy-absorbing 10-meter-high poles.
  • Builder: Bravida Danmark A/S (Noise barrier) og Munck Havne og Anlæg A/S (Road safety)
  • Entrepreneur Bravida Danmark A/S (Støjskærm) og Munck Havne og Anlæg A/S (Trafiksikkerhed)
  • Subcontractor: DAV NORDIC A/S
  • Advisor:
Project Manager

Johny Poulsen

Project Manager
+45 28 87 04 60
Project Manager

Emil Mortensen

Department Manager
+45 50 85 38 07
Project Manager

Jesper B. Andersen

Project Manager
+45 29 61 36 49

Schüttesvej, one of the main access roads to Horsens, has been expanded from two to four lanes. DAV NORDIC supplied products from three of its four business areas for this project, providing an innovative solution to a familiar problem.

Complex geotechnical conditions and limited space for road equipment

The western ring road around Horsens is a major traffic artery. In addition to being highly trafficked, the project was extraordinarily complex because Bygholm Lake, located next to the road, is dammed, and the road was built on the embankment. The challenging geotechnical conditions, with soft ground near the lake, required large sections of the road to be reinforced and built using Leca nuts.

Another factor that made the project particularly interesting was the limited space around Schüttesvej. The alignment (a term used to describe the route of a road or pathway in the terrain) that was allocated for the noise barrier, guardrail, and light poles was too narrow to accommodate all the components.

DAV NORDIC proposed a solution to reduce the space occupied by each piece of road equipment. The proposal was well received, and the client, Horsens Municipality, decided to proceed with the solution. This minimized the need for expropriation and other issues common in road projects where space is limited. In practice, this meant that the guardrail was installed closer to the noise barrier than usual, and the columns of the noise barrier along the stretch were used as poles for some of the streetlights. We call it combined road equipment.

Noise

Service:

  • 180 m Green Wall noise barrier mounted on a low steel base in a staggered design.
  • Custom-produced columns with welded brackets. Total height 3.5 m.

Role: Subcontractor

Client: Munck Havne & Anlæg A/S

Builder: Horsens Municipality​

Road

Service: ​

  • 332 m guardrails, H1 W1
  • 103 m handrails

Role: Subcontractor

Client: Munck Havne & Anlæg A/S

Poles

Leverance:

  • ​5 custom poles for mounting on noise barrier
  • 60 energy-absorbing 10-meter-high polesr

Role: Leverandør

Client: Bravida Danmark A/S

Builder: Horsens Kommune​

Maintaining traffic flow during construction

Since Schüttesvej is one of the busiest roads in Horsens, maintaining normal traffic flow during the construction period was crucial for the project’s success. As a subcontractor, DAV NORDIC had to work within strict closure times, carrying out work outside of peak hours.

The guardrail and noise barrier face Schüttesvej, while the back side faces a local road. This meant that the barrier was installed from the front, minimizing disruption to traffic and the nearby residents.

Project success according to all partners

Reducing the alignment width may sound simple, but most people know the real test comes when an idea is put into action. The internal collaboration across DAV NORDIC’s business areas provided both Bravida and Munck with a cheaper and faster process.

“It’s a great advantage that when I call Emil, he’s familiar with the construction of the noise barrier. If different parts of the project had come from different suppliers, I know from experience that it would have caused problems. The cooperation has been smooth, and Emil (the project manager) has been on top of things, providing me with an overview and assurances. It saved both me and the project time”

Kasper Rasmussen, project manager at Bravida, responsible for the electrical contract on the project.

Choosing a supplier with multiple business areas allowed various experts to be involved. At the same time, collaboration and coordination were much easier when the experts were working side by side.

Technical details of the road equipment

The technical details of the various products used in the project are explained by the project managers at DAV NORDIC:

Johny Poulsen, Project Manager for Noise-Reducing Solutions, explains:

“The 3.5-meter-high noise barrier forms the foundation of the project. A Green Wall cassette with a low steel skirt was chosen for this barrier. This type of barrier is double-absorbing and particularly suited for climbing plants. Horsens Municipality wanted the area to be greened in the fall. The columns of the barrier are special because they were delivered and installed with welded brackets for the poles that were later mounted on top. Before production, DAV NORDIC’s engineers calculated that the columns and foundations would be strong enough to support both the barrier and the poles.

Along the stretch where the barrier is installed, there is also a bike path. It was necessary to create a passage for pedestrians and cyclists to pass the barrier. The interrupted section is constructed with a “sluice,” meaning the barrier is extended and shifted at the break to maintain the noise-reducing effect.

Emil Mortensen, Head of Poles, adds:

“In the pole department, we worked closely with our colleagues in the noise and road departments, delivering a total of 65 poles for the project. Most of the poles are energy-absorbing aluminum poles with a height of 10 meters. The remaining five are custom-made poles, anchored to the brackets that form the end of the noise barrier columns. These special poles were designed so that the light points are at the same height as the rest of the poles, creating a cohesive look.”

Jesper B. Andersen, Project Manager for Guardrails and Railings, continues:

“The railing delivered for the project is an elegant and simple tube railing, mounted on the embankment’s sheet pile walls in some places and directly on the guardrail in others. Its design doesn’t draw attention but conveys strength and robustness. It was a fun task for our installers to mount the railing along the embankment. The work was done from the water side. Our guys wore life jackets and used a floating barge as their work platform. It’s rare we work under such conditions, so it was an exciting challenge.”

Two important lessons from the project

  1. Think in alternative solutions when space is tight – combined road equipment is practically feasible.
  2. Choose a single supplier for multiple subcontracts on the same project; it can save you time and money because responsibility for multiple areas creates an incentive to optimize.

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