The Willemsbrug (English: "Williams Bridge") is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

next to the

Erasmusbrug The Erasmusbrug (English: "Erasmus Bridge") is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge, construction began in 1986 and was completed in 1996. It crosses the Nieuwe Maas in the centre of Rotterdam, connecting the north and south parts of this ci ...

in the centre of

Rotterdam 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 ''"Ne ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, spanning the

Nieuwe Maas The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...

. It links the northern part of the city with the ''

Noordereiland Noordereiland is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Noordereiland owes its name to the Noorderhaven (nowadays Koningshaven) which, under the leadership of C.B. van der Tak was dug between 1872 and 1874. By digging the Noorderhaven, the ...

'' and (in combination with the Koninginnebrug) the district of ''Feijenoord''. The bridge was completed in 1981, designed by C. Veerling and named after King Willem III of the Netherlands. It replaced an older bridge that had been opened in 1879 but was severely outdated by the time the decision was made to build a new one. Because of the intensity of the traffic using the old bridge, it was decided to build the new one 150 metres upstream to avoid upsetting the daily flow of traffic across the river. After the completion of the new bridge, the old one was demolished. The Willemsbrug is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

with a total span of about 318 meters. It is painted in a red color which puts it in sharp contrast with the light blue painted Erasmus Bridge.

References

External links

Rotterdam, de Willemsbrug foto4 2015-08-01 20

Bridges completed in 1981 Bridges over the Rhine Cable-stayed bridges in the Netherlands Road bridges in the Netherlands Steel bridges in the Netherlands Bridges in Rotterdam Towers in Rotterdam {{Netherlands-bridge-struct-stub