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The Vlaardingse Vaart Bridge (also called The Twist) is a
Appendix – Finalists Dutch Design Awards 2009
accessed 2011-12-06. See als
Brug over de Vlaardingse Vaart
on the Dutch Design Awards site (in Dutch).
The Vlaardingse Vaart Bridge (also called The Twist) is a helical
Helical may refer to:
* Helix, the mathematical concept for the shape
* Helical engine, a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive
* Helical spring, a coilspring
* Helical plc, a British property company, once a maker of steel bar stock
* Helicoil
A t ...
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
for pedestrian and bicycle traffic over the Vlaardingervaart canal in Vlaardingen
Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in .
Geogr ...
, Netherlands
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, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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Location
Vlaardingen is a city in the Netherlands in the western outskirts ofRotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, on the north bank of the Maas (''Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
''), and the Vlaardingse Vaart Bridge is located in the outskirts of Vlaardingen. It links two Vlaardingen suburbs, Holy-Zuid on the east side of the bridge and Broekpolder on the west side. The bridge has a span of 45 meters across the Vlaardingse Vaart, a canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
that runs north from Vlaardingen to Schipluiden
Schipluiden is a village in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is the seat of the council of the municipality of Midden-Delfland.
The village was founded relatively late in the 15th century and evolved around the Keen ...
.
Design
The bridge's truss is made of 400 steel tubes, welded together and originally painted red; the color has since rapidly faded. The truss's rectangular cross-section twists through a 90 degree angle along the span of the bridge, so that it is nearly horizontal at both ends of the bridge but diamond-shaped in the bridge's center. This design creates an illusion from some points of view that the bridge has collapsed, but it also serves a functional purpose, damping vibrations from traffic on the bridge.History
The bridge was designed by Dutch firmWest 8
West 8 is an urban planning and landscape architecture firm founded by Adriaan Geuze and Paul van Beek in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1987. It is known for its contemporary designs and innovative solutions to urban planning problems using lighting, ...
beginning in 2005, with structural engineering consultation from another firm, ABT. It was prefabricated and then lifted into place in early 2009, and officially opened in April 2009. It was one of three finalists in the "best public space" category for the Dutch Design Awards
Dutch Design Awards (DDA) honours the best Dutch designs across eight categories. It awards design initiatives and designers in the Netherlands each year, in first place by relevance and impact, but also to the extent to which they relate to thei ...
in 2009.accessed 2011-12-06. See als
Brug over de Vlaardingse Vaart
on the Dutch Design Awards site (in Dutch).
References
External links
*. {{coord missing, Netherlands Truss bridges Cyclist bridges in the Netherlands Steel bridges in the Netherlands Bridges in South Holland Vlaardingen __NOTOC__