Today, traffic will be able to cross the steel arch bridge over the Albert Channel in Viversel (Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium) again. That is what the Flemish Waterway (Vlaamse Waterweg) announced on Thursday. All bridges on the Channel had to be raised to allow inland shipping barges with four containers stacked on deck to pass under them.

At the beginning of October, the old bridge was demolished. It was the last bridge in the Limburg province that needed to be raised. On December 11th, the new bridge was installed. Flanders invested 7 million euros in the new bridge.

Economic scope

A project that fitted in the large-scale project of the Flemish Waterway to raise all 62 bridges over the Albert Channel to 9,10 meters by 2023. This would allow barges to pass under the bridge with a four-layered container cargo to increase Flanders’s economic scope.

The new bridge in Viversel simultaneously offers two sustainable alternatives for road transport. Goods can be transported more easily by water, and cyclists can cross the channel safely and comfortably.

Tailored to modern inland shipping

The new bridge is 123 meters long, 18 meters wide, and 23 meters high, measured from the bridge deck. The road surface will have two traffic lanes and separated bikeways. With a clearance height of 9,10 meters, the bridge is completely tailored to modern inland shipping.

In the meantime, 59 of the 62 bridges over the Albert Channel have been raised. The remaining three will be tackled in the coming months. Then, in 2023, the first four-layered cargo ships will be able to sail on the Albert Channel.