The Swan – Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam
The Swan in Rotterdam is an outstanding example of the beauty of modern Dutch, and specific Rotterdam architecture. A fine object for Monochrome Monday.
Designed by Ben van Berkel of the UNStudio the bridge presents the unity between the two parts of Rotterdam city. Until the opening a ‘Rotterdammer’ was only recognized as a real ‘Rotterdammer’ if he lived, or was at least born in Rotterdam Noord. You did’nt live in Rotterdam Zuid. You existed ‘op Zuid’
Even nowadays Rotterdammers are very peculiar in this.
The Erasmus Bridge (Dutch: Erasmusbrug) is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge in the centre of Rotterdam, connecting the north and south parts of this city, second largest in the Netherlands. The bridge was named after Desiderius Erasmus a.k.a. Erasmus of Rotterdam, a prominent Christian renaissance humanist.
The 802-metre-long (2,631 ft) bridge across the New Meuse was completed in 1996. The cable-stayed bridge section has a single 139-metre-high (456 ft) asymmetrical pale blue pylon with a prominent horizontal base, earning the bridge its nickname “The Swan”.
The southernmost span of the bridge has an 89-metre-long (292 ft) bascule bridge for ships that cannot pass under the bridge. The bascule bridge is the largest and heaviest in Western Europe and has the largest panel of its type in the world.
After costing more than 165 million Euros to construct, the bridge was officially opened by Queen Beatrix on September 6, 1996.[3] Shortly after the bridge opened to traffic in October 1996, it was discovered the bridge would swing under particularly strong wind conditions. To reduce the trembling, stronger shock dampers were installed. bron wikipedia
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