Architect:
Zwarts en Jansma Architecten - Amsterdam.
Constructeur: Ingenieursbureau IBK [Oranjewoud - Intersec - ABT]
Kampen's local authorities wanted a new town bridge. The old bridge was the worse for wear and no longer satisfied the requirements stipulated by the shipping. This bridge across the IJssel river is also the gateway to the town centre, and interconnects the monumental embankment on the town side with the station square on the opposite side of the water.
The new bridge is twice as wide as the original bridge. The breadth of the shipping channel has also been doubled, to 30 metres. The approaches to the bridge stand on concrete abutments and it is supported by four supports in the river. The old bridge's massive piers were replaced with more slender examples, allowing for improved water flow and less obstruction. The four new steel lift towers are constructed from steel tubing filled with concrete, which bend towards each other at the top and support the axles of the cable wheels. These pulleys guide the cables for the counterweight and stand in the bridge's lengthwise direction. They are painted with gold leaf. In the evening the lifting towers are illuminated, with the counterweight wheels as a spectacular summit, a reference to the old towers elsewhere in the town.
Cyclists and pedestrians have received special attention, and their protection from rain, wind and motorized traffic was pivotal in the design. Every stream of traffic has been given its own separate lane, separate from the other lanes. The middle lane is intended exclusively for motor traffic, with cycle lanes on each side. There are lower pedestrian walkways suspended on the outside of the concrete bridge deck as a steel structure. There is a glass windbreak between the pedestrian and cycle lanes for extra comfort.
