Gand-Saint-Pierre railway station

This project to develop a new station building forms part of the overall redevelopment programme of the entire station area with a view to addressing the strongly continuously increa-sing passenger volume. The new station comprises various parallel concrete viaducts accommodating one or two railway tracks. The ribbon of light connecting adjacent railway viaducts creates spacious platforms.

The space below the viaducts, on street level, is dedicated to commercial units; in the basement are located ample bicycle stands and technical areas.

Several lifts, staircases and escalators between the platform level and the ground level provide ample connections to chan-nel large flows of passengers efficiently and safely.

Prefab bowed concrete shells are fixed on the side of the railway viaducts. The columns comprise concrete-filled tubular steel sections. The inside of the tubular steel columns are fitted with two U-shaped sections affording space for the cable run; they participate to the stability of the structure.

The steel roof structure, lying on the viaducts, protects passen-gers against inclement weather conditions while the extensive use of glass maximises the level of light.

The bridge viaducts at the Ostend side of the station will be constructed above a new tram station that has yet to be rea-lised; the tram rails are diagonal to the railway tracks, giving the impression that the slanted columns are positioned at random. The central station area accommodates the passenger centre in which the columns have been arranged in a more regular pattern. The railway tracks at the Brussels end of the station continue over existing solid ground.

The complexity of the studies comes from the large number of lining and foundation techniques used, but also from the up-and-down construction technique (stross). This was proposed by bureau Greisch to reduce the construction period of the structural works and to limit the number of tracks out of use to two at any time.