Every day for eight weeks, 66,000 vehicles will be affected by the closure of the Haringvliet bridge, which connects the west of Brabant with Rotterdam. The bridge will be closed from Friday evening to Friday 4 August. Then, among other things, the bridge valve and the mechanism for opening and closing are replaced. “It’s a huge operation.”
When you drive over the Haringvliet Bridge you don’t notice much of it, but preparations have been going on in and under the bridge for months. Environment manager Diana Wonnink of Rijkswaterstaat: “It is a very busy connection and in this way we try to keep the closure of the bridge as short as possible.”
“The bridge has not been open to larger ships since January.”
The bridge, which opened in 1964, is now in need of renovation. “We keep a close eye on the condition of the bridge and see that it really needs a facelift. Over the years, traffic on the bridge has become much busier and heavier and that has consequences.”
Traffic measures have been in place on the bridge since August 2021. For example, the maximum speed has been reduced to 50 kilometers per hour and the lanes have been narrowed. “On January 1, we started removing the old installations from the bridge basement. That is why the bridge can no longer be opened for larger ships since that day.”
The bridge cellar, which is now almost empty, is a room with all the equipment to raise the valve. “A hole has been made on the side of the cellar. As a result, we can already remove old cables and movement equipment while traffic is still moving over the bridge.”
“Some precision work has to be done down to the millimeter.”
However, the bridge will have to close for eight weeks. “We then replace the bridge valve and install the new movement mechanism. To do this, the roof of the cellar must first be opened. There is then a big hole in the road. Then the old valve goes out and the new one goes in and the new musculoskeletal devices come in the basement.”
“Sometimes it involves precision work that has to be carried out with millimeter precision. The bridge will also be reinforced inside and out. If everything goes according to plan, the bridge and the valve can open again for road and water traffic at the beginning of August.”
