Prince Claus Bridge wins awards: best bridge in the Netherlands

The Prince Claus Bridge in Dordrecht may call itself the best bridge in the country. The bridge between the Stadswerven district and the historic city center has won the National Steel Award 2022 in the 'Infrastructure' category. The award was presented on Oct. 4 at the AFAS Theater in Leusden.

Engineering firm Iv-Infra of Sliedrecht, part of Iv-Groep, is responsible for the structural design of the state-of-the-art and unusual bicycle and pedestrian bridge. The bridge has a unique movement principle: an upright ballast mast that is kept upright by a pendulum rod and keeps the bridge balanced in any position. A very challenging project that also had to be worked on with extreme precision: the Prince Claus Bridge was realized with a maximum permissible design deviation of only 5 millimeters.

Royal opening

The bridge over the Wantij was opened on October 26, 2021 by Princess Beatrix and is an important link in the future express bicycle route. Due to the architectural design (René van Zuuk Architects) and the careful elaboration into a feasible structural design, the Prince Claus Bridge has a unique appearance in addition to a unique movement mechanism.

Iv-Infra performed the structural design on behalf of the Dura Vermeer - Hillebrand / ASK Romein construction consortium, which is responsible for realizing the bridge. The municipality of Dordrecht is the client for the entire project. An impression of the final result can be seen via.