Inauguration of City Bridge De Oversteek on 24 November 2013.
De Oversteek, also called City Bridge, is a bridge for vehicular traffic across the river Waal, in Nijmegen. The construction of the bridge was deemed necessary to relieve the 1936-dated Waalbrug on the east side of the city.
Photo: Henk Monster
The arch construction follows the design of the old Waal bridge. The traditional brickwork on the sides of the abutments refers to Nijmegen as a city and gives the bridge an urban character.
Photo: Der-Niederrheiner
The total length of the bridge is 1,195 m, including abutments. With a main span of 285 m, the steel bridge structure was the largest single arch bridge in Europe at its time. The client, the Municipality of Nijmegen, wrote four design criteria in an ambition document (contextual embedding, coherence in the existing and future image, a true work of art and attention to the value of use and experience) and a budget of 140 m€.
Photo: Bj.schoenmakers
This gave the designers a lot of freedom to choose the type of bridge, for instance. During the design process, it turned out that the alternative types of girder bridge, cable-stayed bridge, suspension bridge and truss bridge did not outweigh the advantages of an arch bridge with this span length.
Photo: Apdency
The span consists of a single arch, rather than a double arch with wind bracing. The reasons include material savings, less surface area to paint and less detailing. On the bridge, there are four normal lanes, an emergency lane and a 4-metre-wide pedestrian and cycle path. The construction was carried out by the combination of Max Bögl and BAM Civiel. Ney & Partners‘ bridge design was winner of the Dutch National Steel Award in 2014.
Photo: Roger Veringmeier
About the Author:
Bruno Dursin – Managing Director at Believe in Steel. Bruno has more than 30 years of experience in promoting steel & steel solutions. His clients benefit from his extensive network within the building industry.
