De Hef is the popular name of the Koningshavenbrug, a railroad lift bridge over Koningshaven in the Dutch city of Rotterdam that has been decommissioned for rail traffic since Sept. 24, 1993. The bridge formed part of the Breda - Rotterdam railroad line.
The Koningshaven separates the Noordereiland from the Feijenoord district. The bridge sections of the Koningshaven bridge on the mutual banks date from 1878. The middle section was originally a swing bridge. However, this was a considerable obstacle to navigation. In the narrow passage several ships got stuck, in 1918 the German ship Kandelfels sailed against the pillar. The latter accident was the deciding factor for the construction of a lift bridge to replace the swing bridge.
The bridge was designed by engineer Pieter Joosting and opened on October 31, 1927. This bridge was the first of its kind in Western Europe. In 1928, Joris Ivens made an avant-garde film about the Hef titled The Bridge. Partly because of this film, Ivens became internationally known. Arij de Boode and Pieter van Oudheusden wrote De Hef, biography of a railroad bridge (1985, with a foreword by Joris Ivens).
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