The Vlaardingse Vaart Bridge (also called The Twist) is a helical truss bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic over the Vlaardingervaart canal in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. [1] [2] [3]
The Vlaardingse Vaart Bridge (also called The Twist) is a helical truss bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic over the Vlaardingervaart canal in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. [1] [2] [3]
Vlaardingen is a city in the Netherlands in the western outskirts of Rotterdam, on the north bank of the Maas ( Meuse ), 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. [1] The bridge has a span of 45 meters across the Vlaardingse Vaart, a canal that runs north from Vlaardingen to Schipluiden. [4]
The bridge's truss is made of 400 steel tubes, welded together and originally painted red; the color has since rapidly faded. [5] 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. [2] [3] This design creates an illusion from some points of view that the bridge has collapsed, [1] but it also serves a functional purpose, damping vibrations from traffic on the bridge. [2]
The bridge was designed by Dutch firm West 8 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. [2] [3] It was one of three finalists in the "best public space" category for the Dutch Design Awards in 2009. [6]