Brug 382

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

Bascule Bridge (number 382) built in 1935, designed in 1931 - 1933 by P.L. Kramer (1881-1961) in the style of the Amsterdam School. The sculpture is designed by Kramer himself and by Jaap Kaas and Hildo Krop.

The traffic bridge over the Westelijk Marktkanaal lies in the east-west connecting line of the Jan van Galenstraat. On the northwestern bank there is a small park, roughly a half circle opening onto the water. In the park several trees and in the middle of a bed with shrubs a bronze statue, the resting market gardener by Jan Havermans, 1938.

Description

The concrete bridge clad in brick has two unequal waterways, of which the high western waterway is movable and provided with elegant wrought ironwork, and the low eastern waterway has a more enclosed character with masonry parapets. Bridge and parapets together form a T-shaped plan with unequal arms, ending in respectively a landing stage and benches. The bridge rests on two abutments placed directly on the watercourse, and in the middle a pier. The varied brickwork contains natural stone accents and sculptures. The parapet is executed in running bond on the water side; on the street side vertical masonry also occurs. The parapet is chamfered on the water side and rounded on the street side. Where the Jan van Galenstraat widens (city side, east) the wall offsets and ends, parallel to the road, with sculpture in the pier crowns (representations of houses with stepped gables and stevedores respectively warehouse and hoisting cranes). On the west side the parapet follows the bank. The southwestern part of the parapet follows the stairs to the lower street level and ends at a landing stage, accessible via three natural stone steps. The flanking natural stone corner blocks on the bank side show individual letters forming the word 'WEST'. On the opposite side of the stairs the text appears, one letter per block, 'BUILT / IN THE YEAR / 1935'. At the end of the quay wall is a sculpture of two playing sea lions with a ball. The transversely placed low wall towards the stairs has a sculpture of Jonah and the whale in granite. The northwestern parapet runs the full width of the park and ends in a partly enclosed space with five benches. The parapet has in the junction with the bridge a partly natural stone staircase closed by an iron door, which leads to the quay bordering parallel to the abutment and two steel doors to the maintenance and transformer rooms. Opposite this is placed a granite sculpture of a sea monster (J. Kaas). The parapet, with pipe railings in the low sections, offsets in height and has the benches built in. The raised semicircular park is bounded in the slope by holly.

Valuation

The bascule bridge from 1931 - 1935 is of general importance because of its architectural history and typological value, because of the expressionist design of the bridge and because of the rich architectural sculpture designed by Kramer himself and sculptor Hildo Krop. The bridge has urban design value because of its prominent location over the Westelijk Marktkanaal and its relationship with the adjacent park. The bridge is intact in its main form and in its components.