Amsterdam moving underground

February 07, 2008 - Amsterdam

The city of Amsterdam has plans to build a massive underground city. A Dutch architecture company has unveiled plans for a underground city providing one million square feet of underground retail, leisure and parking facilities.

The project has been approved by the Amsterdam's city council. Construction work, lasting up to 20 years, is expected to begin in 2018. The costs will be around 9.8 billion euros.

Amsterdam was originally built on drained, swampy marshland and many of the historical Dutch houses along its canals are still supported by underground wooden beams. To find space for new developments, the Dutch engineers have decided it is easier to build in the clay under the canals.

"There has always been a lack of space in the city, so what we are doing is building a city under the city by using a new construction technique, which will not interfere with street traffic." said Moshe Zwarts, a partner at the architects Zwarts & Jansma.

The city's historic canals will be left in place, but they probably have to be temporarily drained.