In the 1930-ies a lot of bridges were built over wide rivers. The road from Rotterdam to Breda had to cross the Hollands Diep parallel to the existing railroad-bridge. In this 1935 picture three out of ten bridge-parts are already in place.

After completion of the bridge in 1936 it was opened to traffic. This picture shows us that the roadbridge is 4 segments shorter than the old railroad-bridge.

Both bridges suffered heavy damage during WW-II. Five out of 10 roadbridge-segments were destroyed. Using some emergency trestles and a railroad bridge segment it was possible to reopen the bridge in 1946. On the railroad-bridge segments and the emergency trestles only one-way traffic was allowed. Both bridges were repaired in the next years. In this process the railroadbridge got double-track as well.

The Moerdijkbridge proved to be not wide enough: it became a bottle-neck. It was decided to build a new bridge on the existing pylons. In 1977 this picture shows us that the reconstruction of the bridge has nearly finished. The A16 Moerdijkbridge had 4 narrow lanes before and 6 wide lanes after the reconstruction.

The old bridge-segments were used for bridges elsewhere in the Netherlands, e.g. for the replacement of the very old Spijkenisse-bridge near Rotterdam.

South of the new Van Brienenoordbrug near Rotterdam- IJsselmonde a new complicated junction was built to connect the new road to the existing freeway Rotterdam-Dordrecht. This photo is taken in 1966, one year after opening of the bridge.

Building of the bridge started in the early sixties. This picture from 1961 shows us the first modest construction work.

In 1963 the new bridge became visible. The arc-bridge was built on-site and temporary pylons were used to support the bridge-deck as long as the arc was not in place.

In 1964 construction of the arc was well underway.

In 1965 the bridge was opened; it was a blessing for through-traffic and a relief for the old Willemsbridge and Maastunnel in the city-center.

A picture of 1974 of the bridge and IJsselmonde-junction.

Although this seems nice, the bridge became known for the enormous traffic jams. A plan was made to offer more capacity: a second bridge had to be build.

In the late eighties construction work on the second bridge were started. The main arc-bridge segment was built elsewhere and was shipped to it’s new location parallel to the existing bridge. The new bridge is similar to the old one – the deck is wider although. This picture of 1989 shows the new bridge next to the old one.

This picture of 1992 shows us the new bridge combination. Reconstruction work on the A16 hasn’t totally been completed, but the bridge can (partly) be used for traffic. The new A16 offers 4 carriageways (2 per direction) and a total of 12 lanes.

North of the bridge the Kralingseplein-junction was built. In 1965 the A16 ended here, but a few years later (1973) the extended A16 made it possible to drive along Rotterdam just using freeways. The Kralingseplein today also is called Giessenplein.

The new IJsselbridge near Deventer. It was opened in the year 1972, along with 66 km of the A1 between Terschuur en Holten junctions.

The A27 bridge near Vianen was partly built of concrete; the central segments however were build of steel. In this picture of 1980 the difference in materials can well be seen.

The creation of the new 12th province of Flevoland (below sea-level) made new bridges necessary. In 1969 the new Ketelbridge is being constructed in freeway A6 Lelystad-Emmeloord.

The Ketelbrug was officially opened on july 15, 1970. This picture of july 10, 1970 however does rise the suspicion that it had been opened to traffic some days earlier.

The bridge over the Haringvliet-estuary was being constructed as part of the Deltaworks; a plan to keep the province of Zeeland safe for the water as a result of the 1953-floodings. It included many dykes and bridges. This 1966 colour-photograph shows us the new A4/A29 bridge.

Construction of the Ewijk-bridge over the river Waal near Nijmegen in freeway 75 (today A50), in 1975.

The elegant Ewijk-bridge was opened to traffic on june 30, 1976.

In the sixties it was only possible to cross the IJ/Noordzeekanaal using the tunnel near Velsen (in the west), the bridge near Schellingwoude (near Amsterdam in the east) or using a ferry. The Schellingwouderbridge however did not connect to the (planned) freeway-network, and the ferries caused long waiting for motorists.

Two plans for tunnels in Amsterdam were made and two tunnels were built: the inner-city IJtunnel and the Coentunnel, which should be part of the Amsterdam freeway-ringroad, and would connect to the Zaandam and Purmerend bound freeways. In 1962 construction of the Coentunnel had already started.

In 1964 work on the Coentunnel progressed well on the Coentunnel construction site.

The Coentunnel was opened on june 21, 1966. The Coentunnelroad was extended to the north to Purmerend in 1970 and to the south, connecting to the A4 motorway, in 1975.

In 1939 there are no plans for a tunnel. The new freeway as well as the roadbridge are both just recently built.

The old bridge became a botlle-neck (hey, where have I read something like this earlier ?) and a plan was made for a tunnel. The new Drechttunnel would consist of 4 tubes each containing 2 lanes. In 1975 construction work for the new tunnel has already started.

This picture of 1978 shows the new completed tunnel. The old bridge now serves as a local bridge between Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht.