The new valve of the Dutch Haringvliet Bridge was prepared for transport, Infrasite.nl reported. The bridge in the Rotterdam-Antwerp port route (A4/A29) will remain closed for the operation until August.
All movable parts of the bridge have to be renewed. As a result, through traffic between the ports has to detour via Breda. Self-propelled trailers drove the bridge flap from Hollandia Infra’s yard to a floating pontoon. From there, the pontoon sailed to the Haringvliet Bridge in the A29 motorway. There, the new bridge valve will replace the old one, which was lifted out in June.
Production
The new bridge valve consists of a steel bridge deck, ballast box, counterweight and movement gear. Over the past year, the steel fabricator welded together hundreds of steel plates. The result, a two-thousand-tonne bridge flap, was preserved in a production hall in Krimpen aan den IJssel in the Netherlands over the past few months, Infrasite reported.
Transport
Before the pontoon sails to the Haringvliet Bridge, so-called ‘sea load’ is applied. These are steel frames welded onto the pontoon to hold the bridge valve in place during the trip. Moving the new bridge valve on Wednesday 28 June 2023 was done with SPMTs. Those self-propelled trailers drove the bridge flap onto a pontoon piece by piece.
By 4 August 2023 at the latest, the Haringvliet Bridge should be open again for through traffic, as well as the passage of higher shipping (+13 metres). The Rotterdam-Antwerp port route will still be out of use then: further on towards Rotterdam, the Heinenoordtunnel will also be renovated (photo). It will be closed in both directions until Friday 1 September 2023.
