Bridge at Vroenhoven by The Utregter Photoraphy

About "Bridge at Vroenhoven"

by The Utregter Photoraphy

About the artwork

The bridge at Vroenhoven is a girder bridge over the Albert Canal near Vroenhoven in the Belgian province of Limburg. The bridge is part of the regional road N79.

The first bridge at this location was a concrete arch bridge built during the construction of the Albert Canal in 1935. It was blown up in 1944 by the retreating German army. A bailey bridge was temporarily in place to replace it until 1947, after which the bridge was rebuilt in its original form. In 2007 the construction of the new bridge at Vroenhoven started, right next to the then still existing old bridge. On 16 January 2009 at 22h38 the old bridge was blown up with dynamite. The new bridge was put into service in June 2010. The replacement of the bridge made it possible to widen the bottleneck in the canal so that now two ships can pass at the same time. This widening was previously not possible because the pillars of the old bridge were too close together.

When the new bridge was built, space was also provided for a museum - the Bridge of Vroenhoven, an open air theater, a climbing wall and a cafe-restaurant.

On 29 April 2012, the World Peace Flame was inaugurated next to the Bridge of Vroenhoven. It is a 2.5m high monument with an eternally burning flame for peace. It is part of the worldwide project 'World Peace Flame'. There are nine other locations on all continents where this World Peace Flame burns.