Underwater Pedestrian Bridge

Posted on December 5, 2011  Comments (7)

photo of a 'bridge' parting the waters to allow pedestrian to pass

The Dutch water line was a series of water based defenses conceived by Maurice of Nassau in the early 17th century, and completed by his half brother Frederick Henry. Combined with natural bodies of water. The line could be used to protect the economic heartland of the Dutch Republic behind difficult to cross water barriers, when in danger.

The Fort de Roovere was part of this defense. In 2010 the fort was renovated and the moat revived with a small extra bit of engineering: a sunken pedestrian “bridge.” Where once engineers used ingenuity to use water to keep people out, now engineers used wood to let people experience the moat while still reaching the fort.

via: Sunken Pedestrian Bridge in the Netherlands Parts Moat Waters Like Moses!

Related: Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-TunnelMonkey BridgeQuantum Teleportation

7 Responses to “Underwater Pedestrian Bridge”

  1. Anonymous
    December 5th, 2011 @ 2:36 pm

    I like the idea of a semi-underwater bridge. I would definitely like to know more information on what techniques were used in the event of heavy rainfall.

  2. Anonymous
    December 5th, 2011 @ 7:39 pm

    I have been to Glasgow and there was a Harbour Tunnel and at Rotunda too. I may walk over and get a pic or two this weekend, but I really need to get my lazy butt in gear and put up the Christmas lights too. Thanks for sharing this nice piece of information.

  3. Anonymous
    December 7th, 2011 @ 10:19 am

    Haha, this looks funny, but also interesting… It seems to be fixed, but i thnik it would be useful if the bridge would be able to move up and down when the water level increases. Looks a bit dangerous this way…

  4. Joan Budai
    December 8th, 2011 @ 3:23 pm

    This bridge article is so interesting! I can only marvel at the minds that conceived and executed this project. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Benjamin Clingan
    December 8th, 2011 @ 3:23 pm

    What a neat field trip it would be to take your science students to see this feat of engineering!

  6. Stephanie
    December 9th, 2011 @ 6:21 pm

    This sunken bridge is made of wood? Then eventually it is going to rot or warp and cease to be watertight — never mind the problem of flooding raising the ater level!

  7. curiouscat
    December 9th, 2011 @ 9:51 pm

    I am grateful for readers and comments of those seeking to learn. I don’t know what engineering solution these engineers used to deal with water level but I would imagine it is the one used in many similar situations (pools, water fountains, sinks…) you have an overflow escape for any excess water. Any water above, say in this example, above 3 inches below the pedestrian crosswalk walls escape by overflowing a lower barrier and being carried away.

    They can have those overflow escapes anywhere as the water level is going to be the same due to gravity. They may even have them right at the wall protecting the underwater walkway.

    You still will get water in the walkway (from rain and possibly from very windy days pushing the water over the barrier wall (since it is pretty close) though I imagine they took this into account. They seem to have a raised walkway (that water can drain under). My guess is water pooling under that is drained away – but maybe they determined it could just evaporate from there and it would be fine.

    As I discussed in previous posts, ask questions and try to answer them yourself – this is a powerful way to learn. Thinking about it is better than looking up an answer (I believe). If you have no idea then looking it up (or asking) makes sense.

    If you can’t think of an answer it is fine to ask others. When you ask because you try to figure it out and can’t you will be much more interested in the answer and learn more.

Leave a Reply