Highway A11, Belgium
The A11 at a glance
The 12-kilometre stretch of the A11 between Bruges and Westkapelle crosses several roads and watercourses. On top of that, the motorway had to be integrated into the polder landscape. Local traffic and the environment were important elements in each subproject. Thanks to the construction of this motorway, we relieved the polder villages of busy and heavy road traffic. And we made it safer and smoother for local road users to reach their destinations. We also gave nature room to flourish, thanks to several eco-passages, for example.
A11 in numbers
Did you know?
The bascule bridges over the Boudewijn Canal are the first movable highway bridges in Belgium and even Europe. Thanks to these bridges, cargo ships can continue along the canal and the landscape is not damaged by a high bridge.
A11 in detail
The roundabout in Westkapelle allows motorised traffic to cross over watercourses and cycle paths. With this design, we ensured conflict-free and smooth traffic, both for cars and cyclists, and gave full space to the Zwinnevaart. This flows right under the intersection with other watercourses.
A little further on, the A11 and the N49 converge. In order not to disturb the landscape, we opted for a sunken motorway. A bridge over the Schipdonk and Leopold Canal also stands on slender piles for the same reason.
The access complex to the port of Zeebrugge lies above the railway line to Knokke-Heist. We built a 10-metre-high tunnel over the train tracks to make optimal use of the limited space between the polder and the port.
A double bascule bridge over the Boudewijn Canal allows large ocean-going vessels to go deeper inland, while road traffic is hardly interrupted.
