Interdisciplinary specialist helps repair and prevent damage

"Concrete research is just one of the things we do," says Wouter van den Berg of Nebest. "We are more and more widely known, but also very broadly oriented." Nebest is an independent engineering/ consulting firm, specializing in inspection, in-depth technical research and advice as well as project management in construction, infra, industrial and hydraulic engineering. "Telling what the problem is is not that difficult. How it can be solved is an entirely different story. We like to think about that."

With great enthusiasm, Van den Berg recounts the origins of Nebest. "When we came into existence in the 1980s, we were mainly concerned with inspecting civil engineering structures, which were assessed by sight. However, with the naked eye you can also see a lot nít." Nowadays, thanks to several strategic expansions, Nebest can offer more depth, in terms of measurements and thanks to its own laboratory. "We now come to the table much earlier, help think about what needs to be done to objects, write plans and supervise projects. We now also put our knowledge about materials and structures to use in other sectors, because we know how materials such as concrete, steel, wood and masonry behave."

Nebest is active in various sectors, namely infra, hydraulic engineering, construction and industry and one of the better-known players in management and maintenance. This means that the company is also an attractive employer, with room for specialists in all kinds of sectors. "Because we are a very specialized company, clients who are involved somewhere in the management and maintenance chain know how to find us well. These can be managers, contractors and suppliers, but equally competitive engineering firms. Nowadays, Nebest is also increasingly involved in new constructions. We have seen how damage occurs and can therefore advise on a faster and more efficient way of building in new construction projects."

Those who work at Nebest have very varied work, according to Van Den Berg. "We work at height and depth. That's why we have our own diving team, employ professional climbers and work with drones. In the future, we hope to attract even more motivated employees in order to continue to grow."   

The depths

Harold van Veldhuizen from Barneveld (27) works as a diver at Nebest. "I did the HBO course in Analytical Chemistry. In most cases you end up in a laboratory after that. But doing experiments in a lab for eight hours? No, I'm not made for that." After diving training in Norway, Van Veldhuizen has been allowed to call himself a certified professional diver since December 2019. "During the training you learn to dive. This is actually just the means of transportation to your workplace. Nebest is a great company to be able to work for. You get a lot of freedom here, if you handle it the right way. That works very nicely for me."

Varied construction work

Judith van der Linde works at Nebest as a structural engineer in the Structural Department. "The nice thing about working at Nebest is that it is very varied. We not only calculate existing structures, but also check whether they are still sufficiently safe in the current situation. Even when function changes and/or changing loads are planned, we are called in to investigate what the possibilities are." What also makes the work varied, according to Van der Linde, is that the lead time of projects is usually not too long, "Because we are mainly working on existing structures, the projects generally don't take very long. This ensures that you can work on many more projects and so there is a lot of variety in the work."

Foundation Specialist

Since July 1, 2021, Christian Verhoek has worked as an existing foundations specialist in Nebest's structural engineering department. He mainly maps existing foundations and examines their condition, but is also deployed on other projects. For example, he already inspected a wooden staircase of the Dakpark in Rotterdam and performed concrete investigations. "At Nebest you can very easily take a peek into a different kitchen. That is also the nice thing about Nebest; it is a huge interdisciplinary company where you can continuously develop yourself and learn a lot."