How do you remove concrete from over a thousand locations without hitting the reinforcement?

At the Prinses Margriet Tunnel in Sneek, concrete had to be removed from more than 1,000 locations without damaging the underlying reinforcement structure. For a project of this scale, conventional demolition is not an option: the precision required to leave reinforcing bars intact while removing large volumes of concrete demands a fundamentally different approach. Furthermore, there were strict requirements regarding environmental impact: no discharge of process water, no dust nuisance, and no vibration damage to the surrounding tunnel structure.

Two Aqua Cutter robots and an on-site water treatment plant

ADS deployed two Aqua Cutter robots simultaneously, powered by two Hammelmann HD units at 1,600 bar. This combination makes it possible to remove concrete while preserving the reinforcement: the high-pressure water breaks down the concrete without damaging the steel rebar, even on a large scale and spread across thousands of square meters.

To meet environmental requirements, our proprietary EcoClear water treatment plant ran continuously. Process water was purified, filtered, and recycled on-site, ensuring no contaminated water was discharged. All readings were periodically submitted digitally to the client, providing full transparency regarding environmental performance throughout the project.

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Over 1,000 locations treated, with no discharge, dust, or vibration damage

The project was completed late last year with no damage to the reinforcement, no discharge of process water, no dust nuisance, and no vibration damage to the surrounding structure. ADS is the only party in the Benelux that executes projects of this scale entirely in-house, using its own robots, its own HD units, and its own on-site water treatment plant.

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