The Spiering Bridge over the Vecht near Muiden is working again. The bridge could not open since June because a cylinder was broken. As a result, ships with a mast larger than nine meters could not pass under it, much to the irritation of skippers and entrepreneurs, who lost income as a result.
This week the repair work on the Spieringbrug started. According to the municipality of Gooise Meren, the tests that have been carried out to ensure that the bridge can be opened and closed have been successful. The bridge was closed to car traffic on Thursday to carry out these tests. The bridge will now be operated again according to the usual operating times.
Since June 19, the bridge was broken due to a defective cylinder and could no longer be opened. But because the bridge has such a unique design, there were no spare parts and so a new cylinder had to be made. Quite a bit of time passed here.
Entrepreneurs fall victim
This is to the great irritation of skippers and entrepreneurs with a mast taller than nine meters ten. They could not pass under it to reach the Gooimeer over the Vecht via Muiden. Detouring via the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal is also not possible with such a large mast. Lowering the mast every time was a heavy and expensive affair, especially for larger boats, according to the duped entrepreneurs.
And so became the bridge broken open once in June to give the skippers the opportunity to moor the ships on the side of Muiden. This turned out to be an expensive and organizationally difficult operation for the municipality, with traffic having to be diverted for several days. This operation even required a crane to open the bridge. The risk of causing damage during a second operation was also too great, according to the contractor and the municipality.
Full slap
That is why it remained open at that one time and the bridge remained closed for the rest of the summer. This to large irritation of entrepreneurs like Ray Davis, who lost income as a result.
The municipality decided to accommodate the entrepreneurs to assist in lowering the mast. Skippers normally have to pay the full price for this, but under certain conditions the municipality came up with money. But according to the duped entrepreneurs, this was a drop in the ocean.