Second walking path on Limburg DC connects Bouwcampus with UHasselt interchange square

At Limburg DC, the second and temporarily final section of ‘Forest Track’, the elevated walkway by architecture studio Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, has been opened. Where the first path connects the Health Campus with the Construction Campus, this second route runs from the Construction Campus to the UHasselt stop square, the bus and bicycle hub on the campus. The walking time between the two points is thus halved: from nine to 4.5 minutes.

At 342 metres, the second path is slightly longer than the first, which measures 264 metres. Even so, the route feels different. The path runs from the Bouwcampus through a more open piece of woodland, with more open space, towards the station square.

Along blue-grass meadow and pond
Along the way, the path passes a viewpoint by the grassy area between the bus lane and the woodland. That patch of nature is so-called blue grassland, a rare biotope of which hardly any examples remain in Limburg. Further along, depressions in the path allow walkers to get close to the water. The pond itself will be addressed at a later stage as part of a climate adaptation project, with measures to enhance fauna and flora such as the European tree frog. Because this path features more of such special places than the first one, the designers also provided more benches and rest areas.

“With this second path we are giving a completely different answer to the same question: how do you functionally connect two parts of a campus, while at the same time letting people rediscover the landscape,” says Tom Vandeput, Deputy for Economy and Chairman of POM Limburg. “Where the first path moves through dense vegetation, this route opens up more space, with the pond and the purple moor-grass meadow as an absolute added value.”

From design to execution
As with the first path, the construction stands on screw piles, this time 498 in total. The visible finish is once again weathering steel, accounting for 76 tonnes, on a substructure of galvanised beams. The cost amounts to approximately 1.8 million euros, 70 percent of which is being financed by VLAIO, the Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship agency.

“The shape of this path once again started from the site itself,” says architect Pieterjan Gijs of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh. “But with more open space, we were given the opportunity here to let the path itself speak more, with the special places along the route serving as fixed stops.”

A beaver with its own agenda
During the works, the contractor received unexpected company: a beaver that got actively to work on the Oude Stiemer. Due to the dams built by the animal, an overflow structure of the pond ran in the wrong direction, causing water to flow right towards the site instead of away from it. As a result, the dam had to be broken down several times. Now that the works are behind us, the beaver is free to do as it pleases: the area is allowed to flood, and the footpath has been designed with that in mind.

Bat-friendly lighting
Just as on the first path, the lighting is tailored to bats and other nocturnal animals: it switches off after 10 pm and turns on again as soon as someone passes by.

Involved parties

• Design: Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
• Engineering consultancy: D+A and the Concrete Application Centre (UHasselt)
• Main contractor for roadworks: De Dender (Liedekerke)
• Metalwork: Cevan Metaalwerken (Maaseik)
• Lighting: Claesen Outdoor Lighting (Bilzen)
• Digitisation of walking trail: PXL and EDM (UHasselt)
• Partners: Natuurpunt Diepenbeek, Municipality of Diepenbeek, Province of Limburg

A few figures

• Length: 342 metres
• Area: 1,402 m²
• Average width: 4.1 metres
• Screw piles: 498
• Steel: 76 tonnes (substructure galvanized girders, visible weathering steel)
• Cost: approx. 1.8 million euros, 70% funded by VLAIO
• Journey time Bouwcampus – halteplein: from 9 minutes to 4.5 minutes