Verkeersbrug, Jozef Israëlskade 43

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

BRIDGE over the Amstelkanaal (no. 404, first design 1917, substantially altered and executed in 1928), built according to a design by P. Kramer. The traffic bridge lies on the radial route that leads from Plan Zuid to the old city via the Schelde and Ferdinand Bolstraat. The construction of this fixed bridge with a navigable span of 10 metres was built according to the design of the Bridge Department of the Department of Public Works for which Kramer worked. The design also includes four bridge houses with shops at the corners. The identical houses are placed symmetrically in plan. The architectural design of the bridge is in the style of the Amsterdam School. The ironwork of the balustrade appears to be inspired by the waves of water and the rigging of ships. The sculptural work, consisting of fish, fantasy creatures and snakes, is by Hildo Krop.

Description

The fixed beam bridge comprises a single span and has four identical houses on the landheads. The houses, built up in yellow cross-bond, under hipped roofs with five roof sections, covered with red glazed hollow tiles and the extensions with flat roofs, have a symmetrical, almost lozenge-shaped plan. The roofs have a metal top ornament. The sharp corners of the lozenge, facing towards the centre of the bridge, are concavely cut off. The sharp corners facing towards the centre of the bridge have the entrances with a surface division in the style of the Amsterdam School, the outward-facing corners have only a small window. The shops have a composite window following the blunt corner, with a vertical articulated curved board for the wall shelf at the corner. A continuous horizontal band separates the large shop windows from a strip of narrow fanlights. Above the shop windows runs a wide, flat awning that bends at the blunt corner. The entrance portico under a flat roof with slightly overhanging roof edge, the corners of which are distinguished, is less tall than the shop, whose roof also slightly overhangs. Under this roof are narrow windows with heavy frame wood, a wooden ledge above and a plate below. The cut-off building section that faces away from the bridge has a small window instead of a door. The rear facades on the water have, at the blunt corner, a square built-up chimney rising from the wall plane, with a sixteen-pane window on either side. The wall surfaces, which continue to the granite edge just above the water, also have a basement window. The houses border on the breastwork of the bridge, which is mortared in the same stone, with rounded courses. The corner terminals consist of heavy granite blocks. The breastworks also lie in the plane of the rear facades of the houses and have on the outer edges stepped in four, header-mortared cylindrical forms, crowned with sculptural work. The wrought iron balustrade on the inner side of the breastwork suggests a flow of forces in the horizontals and verticals, whereby the verticals are divided into wider stanchions and thinner 'tension rods'. The decorative patterns are undulating.

Evaluation

The bridge from 1928 is of general interest due to architectural-historical and typological value, because of the expressionistic design of the bridge and the associated bridge houses, and because of the sculptural work by Hildo Krop. The bridge has urban design value because of its defining visual aspect lying over the Amstelkanaal. The bridge is intact in main form and in components.