Aart de Koning wins an award for his Reconnecting Rotterdam Port thesis
20 April 2012 by Webredactie CITG
This year’s KIVI-NIRIA Cuperus Prize for the best final thesis in 2010 and 2011 in the field of traffic engineering was won by Aart de Koning (TU Delft Architecture - urban design - and Civil Engineering) for the thesis he wrote as part of the Reconnecting Rotterdam Port programme.
Aart de Koning conducted his research with the Rotterdam Port Authority. The Reconnecting Rotterdam Port programme examines how public transport can be used to safeguard the Rotterdam port area’s strong competitive position in the future. Here, a major aspect is the recruitment of qualified personnel. Aart de Koning researched several possibilities, such as the use of goods railways for passenger transportation, water transport and a new tunnel for public transport alongside the Blankenburg Tunnel. The jury praised the thorough spatio-economic exploration of the opportunities for public transport as an answer to the challenges faced by the Rotterdam Port in the future, as well as the clear visualisations that he used to clarify the use and necessity of the proposed traffic system.
From left to right:
Peter van Weelden (Radboud University Nijmegen/winner of the 2nd prize), Aart de Koning (TU Delft/winner of the 1st prize), Charlie Aptroot (member of the Dutch House of Representatives for the VVD party and spokesman for Traffic and Transport Engineering), Jan Eikema (chairman of the jury and managing partner of Awareness) and Jan Ploeger (chairman of Traffic and Transport Engineering Department of the Dutch Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI NIRIA) and director of IPO).
