Under a clear blue sky and warming sunshine, the thoughts do not quickly return to a bad Sinterklaas entry in November. Except for construction supervisor Johannes Buitenwerf and his colleagues. With a crane they take the whiter bridge apart in Assen. An unintended gift from the Goedheiligman, which also turns out more expensive than expected.
After Sinterklaas and his helpers transport the provincial capital, the bridge refused to close again. It took days to remedy the problem. However, a larger repair turn is needed so that the bridge functions completely again without problems. And that takes some time. “No matter how beautiful he is, it is so complex,” says Buitenwerf. “We are surprised by surprise.”
“A lot must be repaired,” also sighs alderman Bert Jan ten Oever when he looks at the work up close. “You don’t expect this from Sinterklaas.”
The first calculation shows that the municipality has lost 200,000 euros for the makeover. “At first we thought: we will repair a small thing for a moment. But there appears to be quite a bit of it.”
Printing point is a broken lifting cylinder, which must be replaced. Normally, such a part lasts 25 years. A period of time that does not apply to the Witterbrug, after the opening in 2008 it is already ready for a large -scale maintenance.
The municipality explains that the bridge is ‘different from the design drawings’ and the lifting cylinder cannot be replaced ‘in a simple way’. It is first necessary to dismantle the bridge.
The Witterbrug will – according to the current planning – remain closed for at least two weeks for motorists, motorcyclists and sailing traffic. Cyclists and pedestrians can continue to use the bridge, except during hoisting work.