Vijzelgracht Station will be located between Weteringschans and Prinsengracht. The platform will be at a depth of about 26 metres. 
  
The station will have three entrances:
• on Vijzelgracht
• on Weteringschans
• on the corner of Nieuwe Vijzelstraat and Weteringschans.
Some 27,000 passengers are expected to make use of this station each day.

Detention-and-settling tank
In the space above the underground Vijzelgracht Station, a so-called detention-and-settling tank will be created to serve as an overflow area for excess rainwater drainage.

Underground parking for cars and bicycles
There are plans for underground parking facilities for both cars and bicycles.

Promenade
Once a canal, Vijzelgracht is now one of the busiest arterial roads in the centre of Amsterdam. After the underground station between Weteringschans and Prinsengracht has been finished, there will be a tree-lined promenade above it.

Engineering

The ‘cut-and-cover’ method
Vijzelgracht Station is being built according to the ‘cut-and-cover’ method. The so-called diaphragm walls reach a depth of 40 metres. At 33 metres below the surface, a reinforcing layer is added between the walls to ensure that they will remain in place while the station is being dug out.

The advantage of this method is that no piles need to be driven in order to make the walls. A roof of reinforced concrete rests on top of the walls, creating a huge concrete box several metres below the surface. Above this box, the situation at street level will soon be restored to normal. Once the area between the walls of this concrete box has been dug out, the underground station can be finished.

The eastern half of the concrete box is now already finished and the western half is nearing completion.

Expansion of the southern section of the construction site
The southern part of the construction site on Vijzelgracht has been expanded. This was necessary to bore piles as deep as 50 metres below Normal Amsterdam Water Level (NAP) for the southern entrance to the station. In addition, workers will be looking for any obstacles deep in the ground.

Consequences for traffic:

Cyclists travelling from east to west will make use of the bicycle lane that runs across the Weteringcircuit roundabout.
Car traffic coming from Frederiksplein can only turn right onto Vijzelgracht and can no longer continue on towards Leidseplein.
Car traffic destined for the west side of Weteringschans will be diverted at Frederiksplein via Westeinde.
Car traffic from the bridge across from the old Heineken brewery heading in the direction of Weteringschans will be routed over the tram track.
This situation will last until mid 2007.

Construction of west side of station
The construction of the west side of Vijzelgracht Station began on 13 March 2006. Traffic on Vijzelgracht, which had initially driven on the west side of the street, has been shifted to the east side now that work on the carcass of the station building is finished.

The diaphragm walls on the west side – these actually fact form the sidewalls of the station – are now finished. 
In January 2007, the contractor began with the preliminary boring to rid the ground of any obstacles to jet grouting. During jet grouting, a mixture of water and cement is injected under high pressure deep into the ground. This mixture hardens to form a solid lower layer that will ensure that the diaphragm walls remain in place. Jet grouting also began in January.

Traffic
The contractor is working in a closed-off construction site. Between the construction site and the houses is a service road for local traffic in the ‘Wetering’ neighbourhood. This service road is accessible for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Cars can drive on the service road from Prinsengracht to Nieuwe Weteringstraat. From that point on, the service road is too narrow for cars, but they can enter the neighbourhood via Nieuwe Weteringstraat. Cyclists and pedestrians can take the service road from Prinsengracht all the way to Weteringschans.

Two passageways through the construction site have been made. Both have been provided with traffic lights, and at least one of these passageways will always be open.