If you can’t beat them, join them

Zalige Bridge in Nijmegen

Living with the water

The Dutch know how to live with water. The Zalige Bridge in Nijmegen by NEXT architects in cooperarion with H+N+S Landscape Architects is the proof. The bridge is slowly submerging under the rising water and is reachable only through stepping stones. It becomes the ultimate place to experience high water.

In the Dutch city of Nijmegen, where the bridge is located, water levels of 11,50 m NAP+ are being measured. Such height was reached only once in the last 15 years. In the past this would have been a threat, but now the high water becomes an attraction. People walk over the bridge and through the river park to see and experience the high water.

A bypass for the river

Zalige Bridge is part of “Room for the River”, a nation-wide project initiated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in cooperation with provinces and municipalities that prevents flooding by giving more room to the rivers. Room for the river Waal is the largest project within the national programme and involved relocating the dike and constructing an ancillary channel in the flood plains: a bypass for the river.

Zalige Bridge was completed in March 2016. Michel Schreinemachers, partner at NEXT architects, emphasises the relation between bridge and landscape: “This bridge is build on the floodplains. This fact was used to design a bridge that strongly connects and interacts with the river landscape as a path over the water.”

Normally, the river has an average height of 7 m NAP+ and the bridge stands high above the water. The bridge landings and the stepping stones have been designed to be perfectly aligned with the profile of the landscape. When water levels rise, some parts of the bridge will submerge, changing its appearance and use. “It makes people experience the changing water levels” says Schreinemachers.

Architect

NEXT architects
Paul van Vlissingenstraat 2a
NL — 1096 BK Amsterdam

Team

Michel Schreinemachers, Marijn Schenk, Bart Reuser, Jurriaan Hillerström, Luuc Sonke, Maarten Vermeulen, Ingeborg Kuijlaars

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Client

Municipality of Nijmegen

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Construction company

I‑Lent (Dura Vermeer Divisie Infra BV en Ploegam BV)

Photographs

Author

NEXT architects

Address

Zaligebrug
NL — 6541 AH Nijmegen

Arieal view

Thank you, Google!

Opening

2016

Construction costs

€4,700.000

No high water / high water

Section

High water becomes an attraction

In January 2018 the Zalige Bridge proved itself for the first time. Water levels rose up to the highest point in 15 years. The high water became an attraction, with the bridge as the ultimate place to experience the event. Throughout the year, the river Waal has an average height of 7 m +NAP and the bridge stands high above the water. When the river reached 10,5 m +NAP, the bridge landings submerged and the stepping stones became the only intermittent path giving access to the bridge. People walked over the bridge and through the river park to see and experience the high water. When the stepping stones got under water, the bridge became inaccessible.

We have to tell more stories

“Awareness for water issues is still low unfortunately” told Henk Ovink, first Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. “This is why we have to tell more stories to make people understand how important the water issue is.” This is exactly what Zalige Bridge does: this bridge by NEXT emphasizes the dynamic character of water by letting people see and experience the changing river landscape. The attention and enthusiasm for the high water shows how we manage to live with water in the Netherlands, not by restraining it, but by giving it enough space. If you can’t beat them, join them.