The Blue Carpet under construction in September 2020

The Pieter Smitbrug is a series of bridges in Groningen, Netherlands, which completed in February 2021. It connects the village of Blauwestad with Winschoten, the largest city in the region. It is a cycle and footbridge, 3.5 metres (11 ft) wide and 800 metres (2,600 ft) long. Its estimated cost is 6 million euro.[1][2][3][4]

The bridge deck is made of 350 cubic meters of FSC-certified Lophira alata wood from Gabon, Africa, supplied by Wijma Kampen B.V. The bridge has an 80-year design life. It is designed to be bat-friendly in paint and solar LED lighting.[5][6][7]

The 2004 Blauwestad project was created to revive the Oldambt area of East Groningen, which had been declining in population and economically poor since the 1980s. The Oldambtmeer was created by re-flooding fallowed land in 2005, and the future town of Blauwestad was also named in 2005. Residents began to arrive in small numbers in 2006, and changes in the global markets caused redesigns in 2010 and 2013. Beginning in 2015, asylum seekers began to populate the area as part of the European migrant crisis, setting 125 homes.[8]

The bridge crosses the Oldambtmeer, the A7 motorway, the Winschoterdiep, and a nature preserve (part of the Nature Network of Netherlands). It will have access stairways to the Oldambt neighborhoods of Oostereinde and Noordereinde.[9][7]

Naming

The bridge was named De Blauwe Loper in Dutch (The Blue Carpet) during construction. In October 2018, the definitive name of the bridge was announced, Pieter Smit Bridge, after former Oldambt mayor Pieter Smit, who had passed away the same year.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Tammo Beishuizen (27 February 2020). "De Blauwe Loper tussen Blauwestad en Winschoten is nog voor de kerst klaar: met je kerstboom op de fiets de brug over" [The Blue Carpet between Blauwestad and Winschoten is ready for Christmas: cross the bridge with your Christmas tree on your bike]. dvhn.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Marco Grimmon (28 January 2020). "In beeld: eerste paal van achthonderd meter lange brug geslagen" [In the picture: first pile of an eight hundred meter long bridge built]. RTV Noord (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Langste fietsbrug van Europa in Groningen: tussen Winschoten en Blauwestad" [Longest bicycle bridge in Europe in Groningen: between Winschoten and Blauwestad]. gic.nl (in Dutch). 18 February 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Marco Grimmon (29 May 2018). "'Pieter Smitbrug' mogelijk gebouwd van hout uit conflictgebied" ['Pieter Smitbrug' possibly built from wood from conflict areas]. RTV Noord (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "De Blauwe Loper - Blauwestad". Blauwestad (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020. Het hout komt daarbij uit FSC beheerde bossen in Afrika en wordt gebouwd door de grootste houtbouwer in Nederland
  6. ↑ Matt Hickman (9 March 2020). "Work on Europe's longest cycling bridge kicks off in the Netherlands". Archpaper.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. 1 2 Boffey, Daniel (4 March 2020). "Construction starts in Netherlands on longest cycling bridge in Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Jurre van den Berg (16 June 2016). "In Blauwestad blijft zelfs de noodopvang leeg" [In Blauwestad even the emergency shelter remains empty]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "Longest cycle bridge in Europe comes to Groningen - DutchNews.nl". DutchNews.nl. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  10. ↑ Marco Grimmon (25 April 2018). "'Vernoem de fiets- en loopbrug in Oldambt naar Pieter Smit'" ['Name the bicycle and footbridge in Oldambt after Pieter Smit']. RTV Noord (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2020.

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