Rob Meijer and Tiny Staal are currently the only pleasure boaters moored in the harbor of Kloosterveen. They will also race through Drenthe this year, on their way south. But due to work on the Norger Bridge, they have to turn back after Assen.
“The most important sailing route for pleasure boaters in the Northern Netherlands is closed,” says Meijer. Because anyone who wants to take a tour of the Northern waterways cannot actually ignore the Drentse Hoofdvaart: a canal between Assen and Meppel. There are no fewer than 25 bridges and six locks along that route, of which the Norger Bridge is one.
The Norger Bridge is therefore an important link in the waterway network that connects Drenthe, Groningen, Friesland and the head of Overijssel by water. But due to maintenance on the bridge, the sailing season has been paralyzed for the time being. “Normally about thirty to fifty boats sail here,” Meijer estimates from the quay in Kloosterveen, “but now there is no dog.”
When the province started demolishing the outdated Norger Bridge on November 24 last year, it expected it would take six months to build a new bridge. In the meantime, the large-scale route is experiencing delays, which also has consequences for shipping traffic. From Meppel boats can sail as far as the Norgerbrug, while boats from the direction of Assen cannot go further than the emergency bridge. The Opsterlandse Compagnonsvaart remains accessible from Meppel.
Johan Drent from Emmen Water Sports Association also had to adjust his sailing route this year. Normally he goes via the Norgerbrug to Zuidbroek to have his boat repaired. “Then I’ll be on the road for about two or three days,” he says.
“But,” Drent continues, “I am now on the road for four days. I have to go to Groningen via Friesland, because that bridge is out.”
Both Drent and Meijer are particularly bothered by the communication from the province of Drenthe, which manages the bridge in Bovensmilde. “No one can tell me how long this will last,” Drent sighs. Meijer adds: “I am annoyed by the province’s shrug of the shoulders. We hardly receive any information.”
Last month, the opening was postponed until June, because frost earlier this year had prevented cables and pipes from being laid. On the day that the Norger Bridge was originally scheduled to reopen, the province added another two months to the closure.
This is because it will take more time to construct a new sheet pile wall along the Norgervaart. “The bottom was deeper in a number of places than we thought,” Bart van Dekken, deputy for Traffic and Transport, explained this week on Radio Drenthe. “That caused some problems when installing the sheet pile wall.”
According to him, the breeding season also throws a spanner in the works, because a swallow has nested under the Nieuwe Norger Bridge. “That is a protected bird and you cannot simply disturb it,” says Van Dekken. In addition, a swallow can hatch eggs a second or third time. “So it is really very bad news on two occasions. It is crystal clear to me that this will continue for a number of months.”
The reopening of the bridge will therefore have to wait until at least the end of August, possibly longer. “But then the sailing season is over,” Meijer sighs.
