The Werkhof of the A16 motorway, Loveresse BE

The Project

Since 2016, the A16, the Transjurane, has connected the Swiss motorway network with that of France. For the maintenance of the southern section of the Transjurane, a large work yard near Loveresse was built, which replaces several work yards.   

The Construction

The Werkhof was built as a timber structure to the energy-saving Minergie-P-Eco standard. Practically only timber from Switzerland was used. The supporting structure above the ground consists of a skeleton construction lined with timber frame elements. Supports and purlins made of glulam are arranged in three longitudinal axes. Above this, ribbed girders run in the direction of the shorter building dimensions. The horizontal stabilization is achieved by planked frame walls, which have been arranged between the columns in selected fields. 

The Challenge

The Werkhof is 150 meters long and 30 meters wide. The dimensions of the building required extremely precise planning in order to compensate for any tolerances. Even slight inaccuracies can add up to deviations of several centimeters over a length of 150 meters. The timber construction elements, manufactured to the millimeter, therefore had to fit exactly onto the prepared concrete foundations. Timbatec designed the panels to accommodate construction tolerances in these elements between the main columns.    

In the area of the salt storage hall, the timber supports in the hall walls had to fit into recesses with very little clearance. The recesses were measured with a tachymeter and the formwork was checked before concreting.