Misplaced Pages

De Hef

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "De Hef" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (February 2022) Click for important translation instructions.
  • View a machine-translated version of the Dutch article.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages.
  • Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 246 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution.
  • You may also add the template {{Translated|nl|De Hef}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.
De Hef
Coordinates51°54′48″N 4°29′56″E / 51.9134°N 4.4989°E / 51.9134; 4.4989
CrossesKoningshaven
Characteristics
Total length79 m (259 ft)
Width11 m (36 ft)
History
ArchitectPieter Joosting
Opening1927
Location

De Hef (lit. 'the lift'), officially Koningshaven Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge over the Koningshaven (Kings Harbor) channel at the port of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Built in 1927, the bridge was part of the Breda–Rotterdam railway line until it was decommissioned in 1993. Today, it is a Rijksmonument heritage site.

History

The predecessor bridge dated from 1878. Its configuration as a swing bridge proved an obstacle to shipping (the most notable incident occurring in 1918, when the bridge was struck by the German vessel Kandelfels), and it was replaced by a lift bridge in 1927. It was the first bridge of this kind in western Europe.

The bridge was the subject of a 1928 film by Joris Ivens, titled De brug.

Redevelopment

Plans to demolish the railway line and bridge in 1993 were abandoned after widespread protests from local residents. The line was removed but the bridge was left in place as a Rijksmonument national heritage monument.

In November 2014, the disused bridge's 55-metre-long (180 ft) lift span was temporarily removed to permit renovation. It was transported to the Merwehaven port, where it was refurbished in 2016, the work funded by the city of Rotterdam. It was reinstalled in February 2017.

In February 2022, Rotterdam announced that the middle section of the bridge would be temporarily removed again, to allow Jeff Bezos's Y721 superyacht to pass through. In response to criticism of this decision, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb stated in February of that year that no permit had yet been applied for. Later reports indicated that plans to temporarily dismantle De Hef have been shelved, leaving it unclear if Y721 will be finished as is, and how it will sail down the river if it remains of the same dimensions.

Gallery

  • Postcard with the newly opened Nieuwe Koninginnebrug in the foreground, and De Hef behind it. Postcard with the newly opened Nieuwe Koninginnebrug in the foreground, and De Hef behind it.
  • The old tracks on De Hef seen from the Noordereiland The old tracks on De Hef seen from the Noordereiland
  • De Hef with the Koninginnebrug behind it. De Hef with the Koninginnebrug behind it.
  • View from Maasboulevard, with De Hef on the far left. View from Maasboulevard, with De Hef on the far left.
  • Aerial view of the Koninginnebrug and De Hef. Aerial view of the Koninginnebrug and De Hef.
  • The southern tower of De Hef in 2015, when the lift span was temporarily removed during bridge renovation The southern tower of De Hef in 2015, when the lift span was temporarily removed during bridge renovation
  • Underside of the bridge Underside of the bridge
  • The bridge control room The bridge control room

References

  1. "Koningshavenbrug". Op de Rails (in Dutch). December 2014. p. 580581. ISSN 0030-3321.
  2. "Historische Rotterdamse spoorbrug De Hef weer compleet" [Historic Rotterdam railway bridge De Hef is complete again] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. February 7, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  3. "Rotterdam has confirmed it will dismantle a historic bridge to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to fit through". BBC News. February 3, 2022. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  4. Burgemeester Ahmed Aboutaleb van Rotterdam zegt dat de Rotterdamse Koningshavenbrug, beter bekend als De Hef, voorlopig niet wordt gedemonteerd om het luxejacht van miljardair Jeff Bezos door te laten. "Er is nog geen enkel besluit, zelfs nog geen vergunningsaanvraag."
  5. Moses, Claire (July 7, 2022). "Rotterdam Won't Dismantle Bridge to Allow Jeff Bezos' Superyacht Through". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
Dutch Rijksmonument 513922 Categories: