John Frostbrug

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

John Frostbrug, formerly Rijnbrug, steel traffic bridge across the Rhine near Arnhem with approach bridge and viaduct with stepped access ramps and monument, built in 1932-1935, destroyed in 1940, restored and destroyed again in 1944/45; reopened on 9 May 1950. The bridge is a tangible reminder of the Allied liberation offensive in the Second World War and is regarded as a monument to the Battle of Arnhem - a dramatic low point and endpoint of Operation Market Garden, an attempt to liberate the Netherlands, which cost the lives of more than 1700 Allies and resulted in a months-long extension of the war and the Dutch Famine. This commemorative value has international significance. The bridge is also an icon of post-war reconstruction: this third bridge within a decade and a half symbolises the resurrection after the Second World War in general and of the heavily damaged Arnhem in particular.

On 10 May 1940 the young Rijnbrug was blown up by the Dutch Engineers and the State Water Authority to stop the German advance, after which the bridge was restored during the occupation. Shortly after its reopening, the bridge became the centre of fierce fighting in the Battle of Arnhem. In this final phase of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the bridge proved to be "a bridge too far", as Cornelius Ryan would express it in his book of the same name: the attempt to capture the bridge failed. In addition to unexpected German strength in Arnhem, this was contributed to by the fresh paint on the bridge itself, which had caught fire, illuminating the battlefield like a torch. On 7 October 1944 the bridge was bombed by the American air force. What remained was blown up by the Germans in February 1945. After liberation, a Bailey bridge was laid beside the damaged bridge and after removal of the remains of the arch bridge and repair of the northern pier, a Bailey bridge was placed on the old bridge piers (opened 6 February 1946). By the director-general of the State Water Authority, Dr. ir. W.J.H. Harmsen, the third permanent Rijnbrug was opened on 9 May 1950 during a brief ceremony. As an exemplar of an important phase in Dutch history, the bridge became the most important commemorative monument of the Battle of Arnhem and it plays an annual role in international commemorative activities for the battle. As early as 1949, the Mayor and Aldermen of Arnhem urged the State Water Authority to hold the opening of the new bridge on Airborne Remembrance Day and to give the bridge a name in memory of the events. The State Water Authority did not consider it customary to name bridges, other than after the relevant river. In the northern abutment, a commemorative plaque donated by the Province of Gelderland was unveiled in 1951 by Lieutenant Colonel John Frost (1912-1993), who with his 2nd Parachute Battalion, part of the 1st British Airborne Division, had attempted to hold the northern bridge head. The commemorative plaque was made by N.V. Metaalgieterij Holland in Amsterdam, and bears an inscription commemorating the battle. On 17 December 1978, a fitting name was finally given to the bridge. The Rijnbrug was named after John Frost. A bronze commemorative plaque with text by Jan H. de Groot above the cycle path access at the viaduct on the north side commemorates this.

The present bridge is constructed in accordance with the first bridge as a stiffened truss arch bridge. This first permanent bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem, replacing a pontoon bridge, was built between 1932 and 1935. The Rijnbrug was the fourth bridge to be part of the first National Road Plan (1927), which aimed to modernise the national infrastructure, in this case the route from Den Bosch to Arnhem, and also to provide employment. In 1928, for this project, which provided for the construction of 12 major traffic bridges, the Bridge Bureau was established as part of the State Water Authority. This was headed by ir. W.J.H. Harmsen. Architect ir. A.J. van der Steur was aesthetic adviser for the Arnhem bridge and the abutments. The superstructure of the main span was carried out by F. Kloos and Zonen (Kinderdijk) and De Pletterij v/h/ L.J. Enthoven and Cie (Delft; approach bridge on the south side). In the Netherlands, this was the first permanent traffic bridge to be executed as a stiffened truss arch bridge, a so-called "Langer bridge" named after its first application by Austrian engineer Langer in 1882. In this bridge type, the main forces are absorbed by a solid steel beam, here executed with a continuous beam on four piers. The arch serves as a relief arch. The bridge type was used for railway bridges and for the strengthening of existing bridges. After Arnhem, it became a common type in the Netherlands (e.g. strongly resembling Arnhem's IJsselbrug Deventer). At the opening of the long-awaited Rijnbrug in 1935, all Arnhem school children sang "Het Bruggenlied" (The Bridge Song). The official opening by Queen Wilhelmina took place in 1936, together with the RWP-bridge in Nijmegen. During the war the bridge was restored under the direction of the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rheinbrücke Arnheim". The main contractor was the firm Eggers from Hamburg, the Arnhem Stoomsleephellings Maatschappij (A.S.M.) - which had already dismantled the destroyed bridge - was one of the Dutch subcontractors. After the war, the bridge was restored in its original form using the remaining piers by the firm Swarttouw from Schiedam. Steel from the large British steel producer and bridge builder Dorman Long (including the Sydney Harbour Bridge) was used: in riveted bridge parts, for example, the names "Dorman Long" and "British Steel" were rolled in. Of the piers from the 1930s, only the northern pier required more extensive repair.

The bridge is currently one of three major traffic arteries across the Rhine in Arnhem, was the most important connection after the first completion and made possible major urban extensions to the south of the Rhine. It enters directly to the east of the city centre on a broad ring road. The choice for a light arch construction was made for aesthetic reasons: the bridge should not dominate the low city buildings. In 1935, the bridge still drastically cut through a block of houses, with the gutters of the remaining houses at bridge deck height. The wish expressed by ir. Harmsen of the State Water Authority that this situation would not last long, was ironically fulfilled by the bombardments: the bridge now enters the city freely and ends on the Airborneplein, modernly designed in 1954. The approach bridge on the south side runs through the unchanged rural-looking floodplain with winter bed. The bridge is characterdefining for the appearance of Arnhem: bridge and Eusebiustoren form the most important landmarks of the city centre.

The bridge was renovated on behalf of the regional directorate East Netherlands of the State Water Authority. In 2000, maintenance of the concrete structure began. In 2003 the bridge was grit-blasted and provided with several coats of paint and a layer of resinous material against sun damage. Components of the bridge were also replaced, such as the concrete decks of the paths for cyclists and pedestrians (now steel). New rail tracks were installed under the bridge.

Description

The riveted steel TRAFFIC BRIDGE, with approach bridge and viaduct across the Rhine near Arnhem, is approximately 600 m long in total. The main span is a stiffened truss arch bridge. This is formed by a central bridge with two continuous solid stiffening beams, that is, the beams extend beyond the bridge piers and beyond the end of the arch. The beams, 3.4 to 4 m in height with hat-shaped section, lie symmetrically over three spans of 50 m, 120 m (summer bed with shipping channel) and 50 m. The walls of the continuous beams are interconnected by, among other things, cross members, with secondary cross members and longitudinal beams and K-bracing between them. The cross members contain various circular openings for pipes and cables. On the outer side of the continuous beams, so-called "consoles" are attached, steel supports for the beams that carry the concrete floor of the cycle path and footpath. The arch and the beams rest on two elliptical river piers, between which the shipping channel runs. Beyond these, the beams rest on the heavy northern abutment and a heavy southern transition pier. The main span is stiffened by a light truss arch of 17.5 m height on each side of the roadway, with K-pattern cross-wind bracing between them. Hangers connect the arch to the beams. The bridge provides space for four lanes in concrete (in 1935 this was wood). Outside the main beams, 4 m wide pedestrian and cycle paths are placed. The total width is 23.2 m.

For the pre-war river piers and abutments, durable, weather- and wear-resistant natural stone was used as cladding and finishing of the concrete piers; at the abutments this choice is strongly determined aesthetically. The abutments are made of very heavy blocks of red granite with rounded corner blocks. The walls of the stepped access ramps are of black granite framed with red granite. For the steps, basalt lava was chosen. In the design of the flights of stairs and balustrades, the influence of the robust, expressive formal language of the Amsterdam School can be detected. The pier cores of the two heavy river piers, executed in rammed concrete with pointed-arch-shaped ends, are clad with black granite and at the ends and on top with rusticated blocks of red granite. The massive granite blocks give the piers solidity in the event of a collision or ice drift. The northern abutment has, in the section where the bearings are placed, rounded corners and is entirely clad with rusticated granite blocks. Plinths, rounded corner blocks and closing lists are executed in more finely worked granite blocks. Damage from war violence is still evident. On each side, a square concrete tower adjoins, the substructure of which dates from the 1930s and the superstructure protruding above the bridge deck was modified after the war: on both sides the towers were made taller and provided with a flat roof instead of a tent roof. The towers are built over stair and cycle access ramps; for this purpose the towers have a rectangular passage on the north and south sides with granite framing. Small light openings with wrought-iron decorative grilles in the side gables. The towers are closed off by a concrete coping dating from the 1950s with rusticated posts and quarter-hollow corner finishes, between which flat concrete plates are placed. The eastern coping has a rectangular window with flat framing and concrete grille work for the iron windows on three sides. On the bridge side there is a relieving entrance with iron railings. The western coping contains a corresponding door on the side facing the bridge. On the north side there is a relieving opening here to the open interior space, into which the commemorative plaque to the Battle of Arnhem is set against the back wall. The interior space has a slate floor and wall cladding with rounded corners. For the commemorative site in the tower coping, a concrete "balcony plate" has been added, resting on two high concrete pillars on either side of the stepped access ramp. At the southern foot of both towers, on either side of the stepped access ramp, there is a broad concrete stair wing with granite plinths and coping plates. The concrete stairs, which lead north of the tower passages with a graceful arch to the bridge deck, have concrete steps, a central cycle gutter of granite and steel tube balustrades.

The transition pier on the south side of the Rhine is also entirely clad with rusticated granite blocks. Coping lists and rounded corners are executed in accordance with the northern abutment. Against the structure, extremely heavy ramp stairs with half-rounded walls clad with granite blocks have been built. These close off with coping lists. Near the connection to the steel balustrades of the bridge are substantial granite ornaments in Amsterdam School style. On the outside of the stair bodies are water drains. The stair treads are of basalt lava, the cycle gutters of granite, the balustrades are provided with granite coping plates with a gentle saddle back. There are also steel tube railings. Against the northern wall of this abutment is the storage place for the authentic steel "paint wagon", which can be rolled along steel I-beams under the bridge structure.

To the north of the northern abutment, a concrete VIADUCT with STEPPED ACCESS RAMPS and MONUMENT adjoins; this viaduct has the function of an approach bridge. It consists of four heavy concrete beams on rows of square piers with connecting concrete deck beam as cross connection. Stainless steel pivot bearings have been used for the bearing. The square piers have recessed corners. The concrete beams are interconnected by steel I-beams. The viaduct provides passage for the Oranjewachtstraat/Westervoortsedijk (formerly Marktstraat). The piers at the underpass of this four-lane road are clad with massive boucharded granite blocks. The rows of columns divide the bridge passage into a central four-lane traffic route and narrow combined cycle and pedestrian paths on either side. The concrete side walls in the pedestrian passages have granite plinths. A steel door is located in the north wall. To the north of the underpass for the Oranjewachtstraat/Westervoortsedijk, a substantial stepped access ramp is located on either side of the viaduct. The stepped access ramps are S-shaped and consist of three straight flights and two hexagonal landings. The stairs have steps of basalt lava, interrupted in the middle by a cycle gutter of the same material. The stair wings are laid in quasi hand-shaped brick in Flemish bond and are closed off by substantial basalt blocks, which grip into the brickwork in a stepped manner. There are also iron tube railings. The landings are also surrounded by similar masoned walls with coping plates of basalt lava. At the top are also landings with masoned walls, more or less arranged on three sides and provided at the ends with somewhat higher masoned posts (standing bond) with diamond-head-shaped coping plates of basalt lava. On the west side, a square frame of basalt is placed on the masoned wall, in which the bronze text plaque is mounted with the naming of the bridge after John Frost.

The APPROACH BRIDGE on the south side is executed with solid beams. The approach bridge spans six openings of 42 m, achieving a total length of 270 m, terminated by the southern abutment. The beams are supported by five bridge piers of the type of the river piers, but decreasing in height. On the south side is the southern abutment, provided with rusticated granite block cladding and rounded corners with granite blocks. The side walls close at the top with a course of granite blocks and a coping list, on which, near the adjoining bridge balustrades, substantial granite corner blocks in Amsterdam School style connect. The construction of beams, cross bracing and hangers is the same as for the main span.

Along the entire length of the bridge, balustrades are placed on the outer side of the pedestrian and cycle paths. To the north of the northern abutment, these consist of a concrete parapet, on which a layer of steel tube railing is placed (two horizontal tubes with gracefully curved supports on the underside). The main span has entirely steel balustrades with three horizontal tubes and continuous flat steel panels. The southern approach bridge has simple steel balustrades with vertical bars. On either side of the four-lane roadway and the end portals stand lamp posts with renewed fittings from the post-Second World War period (spherical caps). Similar lamps are also installed on the vertical posts of the main span. Under the abutments of the truss arches, maintenance stairs are located on both sides against the posts. In memory of the fallen British paratroopers, the bridge is painted in the colours of the 1st British Airborne Division: the substructure and superstructure light grey, bearings, railings and street furniture in "maroon red".

Valuation

The TRAFFIC BRIDGE called John Frostbrug, with APPROACH BRIDGE and VIADUCT with STEPPED ACCESS RAMPS and MONUMENT, is of general importance as an essential exemplar of early Post-war Reconstruction:

- on account of its cultural-historical value as an (inter)national commemorative monument as a sign of the struggle against oppression and as a symbol of the liberation and resurrection of the Netherlands. The building history of twofold destruction and threefold (re)construction contributes to this;

- on account of its historical and commemorative value through the extremely important and crucial role the bridge played in the Second World War (Battle of Arnhem) and in the liberation offensive;

- on account of its cultural-historical value as a bridge from the National Road Plan 1927, a national project for the improvement of the Netherlands' infrastructure and for job creation in times of crisis;

- on account of its architectural-historical value as an example of bridge construction and civil engineering from the second quarter of the 20th century, in particular from the period of the Bridge Bureau of the State Water Authority established in 1928; also valuable for the history of technology as the first Dutch Langer bridge (stiffened truss arch bridge);

- on account of its urban planning value for the development of Arnhem in the second quarter of the 20th century, as part of the improvement and modernisation of infrastructure at national level and on account of the spatial and functional relationship with the Airborneplein, also dating from the post-war reconstruction;

- as a landmark of the city of Arnhem;

- on account of its situational value through its surrounding with green plantings and its location in the open floodplain area.