Great engineering on Airside

The corridor that connects pier B and C still needs its final touches but is already clearly visible. The corridor is 270-metres long, stands on poles and floats 4-metres above the platform where the planes park. Pier-B will only be accessible temporarily through this corridor due to the construction of the new terminal.

Placing and anchoring is a huge challenge
It took some great engineering work to place the corridor. The corridor consists of 8 separate modular parts. Each module weighs around 250-tonnes. They are assembled one-by-one on site. Anchoring a 250-tonne module at an exact height of 4 metres into the holes of the foundation sounds like quite a task, and it was. With a margin of error at 4-mm, it was a huge challenge for the contractors, but all the parts ended up in the right place.

Ready for use at the end of the year
Tapering can now begin in the most sustainable way possible. 3000 wooden slabs of sustainable forestry from Finland were placed on the ground which can all be reused. The facade and ceiling parts, façade frames, glazing, roof insulation and even the drainpipes can be reused. The moving walkways were hoisted through a special hatch in the floor. Once all systems have been tested and approved, the B-C Link will be ready for use by the end of the year.

Light blue and easily recognisable
You can easily recognise the corridor, as it is light blue. This strikingly different colour was chosen because the link is only temporary. The corridor ensures that travellers can use the B-Pier for as long as our new terminal is not yet finished. Once it is there, the B-C Link will be demolished. Schiphol wants the link to look temporary so as to clearly distinguish itself from the permanent grey buildings. The foam that architects use to quickly assemble a temporary model is also blue. It’s a nod by the architect to his own profession.