Viaduct voor de Stilte

2018

The Varenna viaduct over the A50 near Beekbergen actually consists of two viaducts: one that is still in use, and its shadow variant: an identical viaduct that fell into disuse almost immediately after construction. Both viaducts were built in 1968. Shortly after construction, the infrastructure around this highway exit was changed, after which only one viaduct was needed. Because demolishing the redundant second viaduct was very expensive, it was kept and closed on both sides. Since then, the shadow viaduct has been an abandoned space, slowly swallowed by nature at both ends.

In my exploration in 2018, I mapped and documented how far nature was at that time in swallowing the asphalt and concrete. To this end I walked back and forth the entire viaduct. I have found different types of vegetation, but also a quality that I did not expect above a highway: silence. To conclude the investigation, I gave the viaduct a title: Viaduct for Silence. I placed the sign there anonymously in a place that is only found by other curious people.