Arnhem is a large city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on both banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city’s development.

The Sint-Jansbeek has always been an open stream, however the area in the inner city is covered due to the city moats being filled during the 19th century. The stream from the source in Zijpendaal through the park Sonsbeek now runs over a length of 800 meters, from Beekstraat via Kerkplein and Nieuwstraat to the river the Rijn.

Our European partners Joosten Kunstssoffen were instructed to assist with tree pits by contractor Hoornstra, to enhance green infrastructure and allow increased canopy cover along the stream. Due to the nature of the area a number of different tree pit configurations were recommended including SuDS, shallow planting and shared space.

Future consideration had to be made for high volume traffic, renovation and demolition of surrounding buildings. On these occasions 5 tree pit installations used GreenBlue Urban RootSpace soil cell system.

RootSpace has been specifically designed to offer maximum soil volumes allowing healthy aerated and uncompacted soil along with high strength capacity for vehicle overrun – all ideal attributes when space is at a premium. Other products used in the installation include; Twin wall Geonet, ReRoot, Root Director and of course tree protection.

With onsite support key to the success of this project – contractors conducted a seamless installation, swiftly securing the tender opportunity of their next install Deventer City Centre.  (Case study to follow shortly)