✈Worldwide Wednesdays: Moses Bridge aka The Invisible Bridge, The NETHERLANDS

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MOSES BRIDGE aka The Invisible Bridge, The NETHERLANDS

Walking across water without getting your feet wet. It sounds impossible, but it can be done in the small village of Halsteren in the southern Dutch province of Brabant. A bridge was recently unveiled there which links an isolated sand fort with the outside world....

Winner of the Best Public Facility in Arch Daily’s annual Building of the Year competition, Moses Bridge by RO&AD Architecten is a sunken and seemingly invisible bridge in The Netherlands.

The bridge is located at the West Brabant Water Line, which was a defence-line consisting of a series of fortresses and cities with inundation areas in the south-west of the Netherlands. It dates from the 17th century but fell into disrepair in the 19th century. When the water line was finally restored, an access bridge across the the moat of one of the fortresses, Fort de Roovere, was needed as the fort now has a new, recreational function and lies on several routes for cycling and hiking. The end-result was the stunning Moses Bridge.




Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Fort Roovere is part of the West Brabant Water Line, which was built in 1622 to protect the provinces of Zeeland and South Holland from attacks by French and Spanish troops. In the 19th century, the fort fell into decay. It was re-discovered 15 years ago, and the local authorities decided to restore it.

According to Ad Kil, one of the architects who designed the Moses Bridge, "it had to link the fort with the enemy side. We thought a bridge would be incongruous in this place. That's why we made one that is virtually invisible." Kil is proud of the final result: "The bridge is a very simple design, but it has an inspiring, almost poetic quality".

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Unfortunately the project details were a bit sparse so there werre a few questions raised that were not obvious from the pictures, but maybe in the video below, for example:

- How does the drainage system work, especially when it there are heavy rainstorms?
- Although the water levels are precisely controlled (this is The Netherlands after all!), is there any possibility the water could rise and put the bridge out of commission? The height of the water and bridge is quite comparable
- Does the construction of this bridge alter/impact whatever ecosystem exists in the water, as it now splits the body of water into two areas?

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Photograph by RO&AD Architecten via ArchDaily

Video

Resource(s):  rnw.nl/english, twistedsifter.com/