Rotterdam’s Erasmusbrug closes for five weeks for repairs

The Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam’s best known road bridge, has closed to traffic in both directions for five weeks for essential repairs.

Motorists will have to take alternative routes via the Willemsbrug or Maastunnel while both carriageways are resurfaced. Cyclists and pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge to cross the Nieuwe Maas.

Some motorists were surprised to find the bridge shut on Tuesday morning despite the city council posting warning notices well in advance. “I’d have done it differently – first one side and then the other,” one said.

City council project leader Marcel Walravens said both sides of the bridge had to be closed at the same time to ensure emergency vehicles could get across without becoming stuck in tailbacks.

Repairing the bridge at night was also not a viable option, he told local news site Rijnmond: “It makes far too much noise.”

The 800 metre-long Erasmusbrug was opened in 1996 and spans the Nieuwe Maas, connecting the city centre with the Feijenoord district. At its southern end is a bascule swing bridge to allow tall ships to pass through.