Sint Servaasbrug

Sint Servaasbrug
Sint Servaasbrug
	Sint Servaasbrug from the south
Coordinates	50°50′57″N5°41′45″E / 50.84917°N 5.69583°E
Crosses	Meuse
Locale	Maastricht, Netherlands
Named for	Saint Servatius
Preceded by	Hoge Brug
Followed by	Wilhelminabrug
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Limestone with a concrete core
Total length	160 m (524.9 ft)
Width	9 m (29.5 ft)
History
Construction start	1280
Construction end	1298
Location

Last updated January 16, 2024

Sint Servaasbrug (or the St. Servatius Bridge) is an arched stone cyclist and pedestrian bridge across the river Meuse in Maastricht, Netherlands. It is named after Saint Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht, and (despite being largely rebuilt after World War II) it has been called the oldest bridge in the Netherlands.^[1]

Description

The Sint Servaasbrug connects pedestrian traffic from the Binnenstad district of Maastricht on the west bank of the Meuse (the most central part of the city) to the Wyck district on the east bank.^[2]

The bridge is made of limestone, and in its current configuration it is 160 metres (525 ft) long and 9 metres (30 ft) wide. Its seven arches each span approximately 12 metres (39 ft), and are supported by seven piers.^[3]^[4]^[5] A separate steel drawbridge with a span of 54.5 metres (178 ft 10 in) connects the east end of the bridge to the east bank of the river.^[6]

History

The Romans built a wooden bridge across the Meuse in what is now Maastricht, in approximately AD 50,^[7] and the Latin phrase for "crossing of the Meuse", "mosae trajectum", became the name of the city. For many years this remained the only crossing of the lower Meuse.^[5] However, the Roman bridge collapsed in the year 1275 from the weight of a large procession, killing 400 people.^[8]^[9] Its replacement, the present bridge, was built somewhat to the north of the older crossing between 1280 and 1298;^[1]^[3]^[10] The Roman Catholic Church encouraged its construction by providing indulgences to people who helped build it.^[8]^[9] The bridge was named in honor of Saint Servatius around this time.^[11]

The bridge was renovated in 1680, and in 1825 a wooden strutwork section on the east side of the bridge was replaced by a stone arch.^[3] In 1850, as part of the construction of the Maastricht-Liège Canal, a channel was cut on the west side of the bridge.^[3]

In the early 1930s the construction of the Wilhelmina Bridge [ nl ], 300 metres (1,000 ft) downstream relieved the bridge of its function as the city's only river crossing. Thereafter major renovation was performed. The arches were reconstructed in concrete, covered with the original stones. Underwater, counter-arches were constructed to prevent erosion of the river bed on which the bridge was built. Two arches on the eastern end of the bridge were removed and replaced by a vertical-lift bridge. Between the two bridges, on the eastern side of the river, a levee was built to separate the navigable eastern channel from the rest of the river.^{[ citation needed ]}

During World War II the bridge was severely damaged by the German army as they retreated from the city in 1944, and it was rebuilt in 1948.^[12] In 1962, the shipping channel to the east of the bridge was spanned by a steel drawbridge attached to the main bridge.^[3]^[6]

In 1968 a Dutch postage stamp showing the bridge was issued.^[13]

Related Research Articles

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Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren —Latin: Atuatuca Tungrorum, the capital of the Tungri—. Servatius is patron saint of the city of Maastricht and the towns of Schijndel and Grimbergen. He is one of the Ice Saints. His feast day is May 13.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulham Railway Bridge</span> Truss bridge that crosses the River Thames in London

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The Juliana Canal, named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, is a 36 km long canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river Meuse between Maastricht and Maasbracht. It is an important transport connection between the ports of the Rhine delta and the industrial areas of southern Limburg and southern Belgium.

The Basilica of Saint Servatius is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque church is situated next to the Gothic church of Saint John, backing onto the town's main square, Vrijthof.

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François Romain, also known by his Flemish name Francis Rooman or his latinised name Franciscus Romanus, was an engineer-architect who was professed as a lay brother Dominican friar. By commission of the States General of the Netherlands, in 1683 he reconstructed parts of the ancient St. Servatius Bridge at Maastricht, crossing the river Meuse in nine arches. Successful in this undertaking, for which dredging was required, he was requested to come to Paris, where he resided in the monastery of Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin, and oversaw the completion of the Pont Royal, which had been designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, with a central arch having a span of 23.5 meters. Record of payments to him beginning 1 April 1685, three weeks after the contract was awarded, showed that, contrary to the traditional account that he was not brought in until trouble had been encountered, he was the specialist in the project from the beginning. Dredging the Seine's riverbed was required in order to establish sound footings, and caissons were employed for the deep foundations here for the first time, half a century before Charles Labélye's use of them at Westminster Bridge, London. Construction proceeded without incident and was completed and the bridge formally opened, 13–14 June 1689. This further success procured him the office of inspector of bridges and embankments in Paris.

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The Sint-Janskerk is a Gothic church in the center of the Dutch city of Maastricht. The Protestant Sint-Jan is situated next to the Roman Catholic Basilica of Saint Servatius on the Vrijthof, a unique sight in the Netherlands.

References

Dutch Rijksmonument 28026

1 2 McPhee, John (2010), Silk Parachute, Macmillan, p. 25, ISBN 0-374-26373-6 .
↑ Meijer, M. (2007), Stadswandelingen Nederland, ANWB Media - Boeken & Gidsen, p. 94, ISBN 978-90-18-02554-0 .
1 2 3 4 5 St. Serveasbrug Maastricht, Nederlandse Bruggen Stichting.
↑ Sint Servaasbrug, Structurae .
1 2 The Low Countries: arts and society in Flanders and the Netherlands, Volume 9, Stichting Ons Erfdeel, 2001, p. 223.
1 2 Sint Servaas Lift Bridge, Structurae .
↑ Müller, Norbert; Kelcey, John G. (2011), Plants and Habitats of European Cities, Springer, p. 240, ISBN 978-0-387-89683-0 .
1 2 Bredero, Adriaan H. (1994), Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages: The Relations Between Religion, Church, and Society, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, p. 352, ISBN 978-0-8028-4992-2 .
1 2 den Hartog, E. (2002), Romanesque sculpture in Maastricht, Bonnefantenmuseum, p. 139, ISBN 978-90-72251-31-2 .
↑ Auzias, Dominique (2011), Le Petit Futé Amsterdam Pays-Bas, Petit Futé, p. 453, ISBN 978-2-7469-3120-6 .
↑ "De legendarische Sint-Servatius". Historisch Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-02-10.
↑ McDonald, George (2009), Frommer's Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg (11th ed.), Frommer's, p. 466, ISBN 978-0-470-38227-1 .
↑ Kronish, Syd (May 19, 1968), "Stamps in the News", The Victoria Advocate .

External links

St.Servaosbrögk 'De Aw' (St.Servaasbrug), Meestreechter Steerke (in Dutch).

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[mcphee-1] 1 2 McPhee, John (2010), Silk Parachute, Macmillan, p. 25, ISBN 0-374-26373-6 .

[2] Meijer, M. (2007), Stadswandelingen Nederland, ANWB Media - Boeken & Gidsen, p. 94, ISBN 978-90-18-02554-0 .

[nbs-3] 1 2 3 4 5 St. Serveasbrug Maastricht, Nederlandse Bruggen Stichting.

[4] Sint Servaasbrug, Structurae .

[lcasfn-5] 1 2 The Low Countries: arts and society in Flanders and the Netherlands, Volume 9, Stichting Ons Erfdeel, 2001, p. 223.

[sslb-6] 1 2 Sint Servaas Lift Bridge, Structurae .

[7] Müller, Norbert; Kelcey, John G. (2011), Plants and Habitats of European Cities, Springer, p. 240, ISBN 978-0-387-89683-0 .

[ccma-8] 1 2 Bredero, Adriaan H. (1994), Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages: The Relations Between Religion, Church, and Society, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, p. 352, ISBN 978-0-8028-4992-2 .

[rsm-9] 1 2 den Hartog, E. (2002), Romanesque sculpture in Maastricht, Bonnefantenmuseum, p. 139, ISBN 978-90-72251-31-2 .

[10] Auzias, Dominique (2011), Le Petit Futé Amsterdam Pays-Bas, Petit Futé, p. 453, ISBN 978-2-7469-3120-6 .

[11] "De legendarische Sint-Servatius". Historisch Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-02-10.

[frommers09-12] McDonald, George (2009), Frommer's Belgium, Holland & Luxembourg (11th ed.), Frommer's, p. 466, ISBN 978-0-470-38227-1 .

[13] Kronish, Syd (May 19, 1968), "Stamps in the News", The Victoria Advocate .

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