Waalbrug

The Waalbrug is an arch bridge over the Waal River in Nijmegen, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The full length of the Waalbrug is 604 m, the middle of the arch being about 65 m high. The arch itself is 244.1 m long and was the longest arch in Europe at the time of construction.

Unlike many other bridges from the same period and with the same construction, like the IJsselbrug near Zwolle, the Graafsebrug and the John Frost Bridge at Arnhem, the Waalbrug is an arch bridge in the literal sense: all forces truly work on the two pylons.

History
The bridge was opened on 16 June 1936 by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in the presence of 200,000 people.

Until 1936 there had been no permanent connection for traffic to the other side of the Waal. All traffic had to use the Zeldenrust (seldom rest) ferry. Train traffic had used the Nijmegen railway bridge since 1879.

In 1906 the Nijmegen Vooruit (Nijmegen Ahead) committee started planning for the construction of the Waalbrug, but the First World War delayed the project. In 1927 definitive plans had been made by architect G. Schoorl, and construction of the bridge started on 23 October 1931.

On 10 May 1940, at the start of the German invasion of the Netherlands, Dutch combat engineers blew up the bridge to stop the German army's advance.

In 1944 the Germans planned to blow up the bridge again, but Jan van Hoof, a Rover Scout and member of the Dutch Resistance, managed to prevent this. On 20 September 1944, the bridge was captured by allied forces during Operation Market Garden. A plaque was added to the bridge to commemorate van Hoof's actions.

The bridge was painted green until 1980, these days it is white.

Traffic


Over the years the volume of traffic on the bridge increased, with regular rush hour traffic jams. By 2005 over 50,000 vehicles used the bridge every 24 hours.

To ease congestion a new road bridge, De Oversteek ('The Crossing'), was built 2km downstream, opening on the 24 November 2013. For cyclists there is the Snelbinder Bridge, which is connected to the rail bridge, opened in 2004.

Once de Oversteek opened, the Waalbrug was closed briefly for renovation work.

In popular culture
The Waalbrug can be found in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far, Band of Brothers (book) and the computer games: Medal of Honor: Frontline, Medal of Honor: Vanguard, Medal of Honor: Airborne and Battlefield V.