It has been talked about for twenty years, but today the first work around the Zaanbrug has started. In the coming month, a temporary bridge will be built between Wormer and Wormerveer, so that the current Zaanbrug can be demolished and rebuilt. In the meantime, skippers are still very concerned.
Those concerns are about the long waiting times for the temporary bridge; because it only opens and closes slowly, Zaanstad wants to limit the number of times it can open. “If a temporary bridge is installed here that only opens twice an hour, that is already a considerable limitation,” says Andries de Weerd of the trade association Schuttevaer.
“If, on top of that, it is decided to close at two o’clock in the morning and two o’clock in the afternoon, then the nuisance will no longer be equally distributed. Our supporters then say: then I better stop my company.”
Blockages
The Noordhollands Dagblad previously wrote that skippers threatened to block the various Zaan bridges if these plans went through.
De Weerd is not happy about this, because that would not do the image of inland shipping any good. “But it will cost so much: there are cranes, drivers and trucks waiting. The whole train is in a mess. That’s why we say: keep it open twice an hour, then the pain will be distributed fairly.”
Alderman Gerard Slegers of Zaanstad emphasizes that talks are still ongoing. He expects a compromise to be found. “We have now made a proposal and it has been discussed. There are still some snags. We will see if we can work it out in the coming weeks.”
“The rack is out of the inland shipping skippers,” says De Weerd. “This is not the only project in North Holland. We have completed so many projects in which the skipper had to wait and circumnavigate every time. That has already cost us a lot of money.”
About the traffic chaos on the side that is expected if the bridge is open too long, he says: “I want to see it again. If it turns out that things do get out of hand, I am willing to sit down again soon. and see a quick fix.”