Nijmegen – Waalbrug v1.0
Specially for VFR flying Netherlands.
Nijmegen Landmarks.
Waalbrug
The Waalbrug is an arch bridge over the Waal River in Nijmegen, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The full length of the Waalbrug is 604 metres (1,982 ft), the middle of the arch being about 65 metres (213 ft) high. The arch itself is 244.1 metres (801 ft) long and was the longest arch in Europe at the time of construction.
Unlike many other bridges from the same period and with the same construction, like the IJsselbrug near Zwolle, the Graafsebrug and the bridge near Arnhem, the Waalbrug is an arch bridge in the literal sense: all forces truly work on the two pylons.
At the start of the Second World War the Dutch combat engineering units blew up the bridge to stop the German army’s advance. During the occupation the Germans restored the bridge and from 1943 it was in use for traffic again.
In 1944 during MARKET GARDEN, the Germans planned to blow up the bridge again, but Jan van Hoof, a Rover Scout and member of the Dutch Resistance, managed to prevent this. On 20 September 1944, the bridge was conquered by allied forces. A plaque was added to the bridge as a reminder of van Hoof’s actions.
In the movie “A Bridge Too Far” this bridge was together with the bridge in Arnhem (John Frost Bridge) the main targets and film sets. Moviestars like Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and many more showed up for the filming.
The bridge was painted green until 1980, these days it is white. Although in 2020 they started with restauration of the paintscheme.
