Description of the attraction
The Erasmus Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Meuse River, connecting the northern and southern parts of the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
The author of the project is the Dutch architect Ben van Berkel. The bridge was opened in 1996 and was officially opened by Queen Beatrix. The length of the bridge is 802 meters, while its thickness is only about two meters. This is one of the thinnest bridges in the world, however, this does not in any way affect its strength or carrying capacity, because the most modern materials and alloys were used in the construction of the bridge.
A distinctive feature of the bridge is an asymmetrical white pylon with a height of 139 meters, due to which the bridge was nicknamed the Swan Bridge. Almost immediately after the opening, the Swan Bridge became a kind of visiting card of Rotterdam. The official name of the bridge is the Erasmus Bridge in honor of the famous humanist philosopher and writer Erasmus of Rotterdam.
The bridge design has another interesting feature. This is a cable-stayed suspension bridge, it has four spans, and the southern span is a drawbridge, because not all ships can pass under the bridge. It is the largest and heaviest drawbridge in Western Europe. Almost immediately after the opening, it was discovered that the bridge was swaying in a very strong wind, and it had to be additionally strengthened.
Car and pedestrian traffic is carried out on the bridge. The bridge sits at the end of one of the city's busiest thoroughfares and connects the city center with the new Kop van Zuid and further into the Port of Rotterdam.
